Advent Magicka
by MrMaster
Summary: This is the story of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as told by Cardcaptor and Sorcerer Sakura Kinomoto. What changes will Sakura bring to Hogwarts? May the Advent Magicka begin! CCSXHP! Chapter 13: How very Slytherin of you.
1. Hogwarts? Wizards?

This is a crossover, meaning it combines two separate universes and puts them together. Keep in mind that you are not required to have previous knowledge with Cardcaptor Sakura, but you are required to understand the world of Harry Potter. I chose to write a CCS / Harry Potter crossover due because they fit together seamlessly. It isn't that far of a stretch that the events of CCS and HP could have combined.

Please checkout wikipedia for more details on Carcaptor Sakura, or you can watch all the episodes on youtube. If you are uninterested: here is the story of Cardcaptor Sakura in an extremely compressed version.

.org/wiki/Card_Captor_Sakura

This story begins 5 years later, when Sakura is now fifteen.

These are the 52 Clow/Sakura Cards, plus Void and Hope. Any or all of them may appear in Advent Magicka:

The Arrow, The Big, The Bubbles, The Change, The Cloud, The Create, The Dark, The Dash, The Dream, The Earthy, The Erase, The Fight, The Fiery, The Float, The Flower, The Fly, The Freeze, The Glow, The Hope, The Illusion, The Jump, The Libra, The Light, The Little, The Lock, The Loop, The Maze, The Mirror, The Mist, The Move, The Power, The Rain, The Return, The Sand, The Shadow, The Shield, The Shot, The Silent, The Sleep, The Snow, The Song, The Storm, The Sweet, The Sword, The Through, The Thunder, The Time, The Twin, The Voice, The Void, The Watery, The Wave, The Windy, The Wood.

The Magic of the Cards:

As that the Clow Cards are commanded by Celestial Magic, 26 of the Clow Cards are commanded by the Sun, and 26 of the cards are commanded by the Moon, while all the Sakura cards are commanded by Sakura's star. Also, all the cards are aligned with the eight Chinese elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Metal, Wood, Light, and Dark.

Chapter 1: Hogwarts? _Wizards?_

Sakura Kinomoto opened the door after three attempts, and trudged miserably into the family home. Her long, strawberry brown hair was plastered to her face and thoroughly bedraggled, the sound of the dismal squall outside following her in. Emerald eyes observed the flat with a wary observation she had learned over the last seven years. She had failed in her previous attempts to open the door due to the fact that she was holding a useless umbrella in one hand and a sushi dinner in the other.

"I'm home! Sorry I'm late! I had some... business to attend to!"

"Uh huh," Her brother Toya said doubtfully. He had appeared around the corner and helped her with the dinner package, "What kind of _business_ did you have to attend to _this_ time?"

Sakura smiled slightly, and followed him through the hall toward the kitchen. Toya, of course, knew _exactly_ the kind of business she was talking about, "Nothing too scary. Just a water wraith. Not like that dragon I had to fight last week,"

"W-what!" Toya almost dropped the dinner, "A _dragon! _You said it was kitten stuck in a tree!"

Sakura had forgotten that she had told him that to keep him from worrying, "Oops," She said slowly, flashing a patented Sakura embarrassed smile, "Well, it wasn't a _big_ dragon!"

"Wasn't a _big_ dragon?" Toya said incredulously, studying her carefully with narrowed eyes.

"W-well... just about 15 foot long or so!" Toya immediately rolled his eyes and Sakura continued, "I had Ceroberos with me, too!"

"You know I don't like you going off and doing this kind of stuff!"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Seeing that the smile wasn't letting her off the hook as easily as it used to, she shifted into glare mode, "_Watch_ as it blasted Tomoeda to the ground?"

To that, Toya never had a chance to respond to, as Sakura's father had just arrived as well.

"Sheesh! What a rainstorm! Hasn't been one like this since, well, almost six years ago," He commented, shaking off his black umbrella and placing it in a corned by the door.

Sakura and Toya shared a knowing glance, both knowing what the other was thinking. The storm his father was referring to hadn't been a normal storm. It had been caused by 'The Storm' card.

"You don't suppose-"

"No, I thought of that, too. There's no magic to this, just a really bad storm," Toya sighed slightly in relief. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable with magic, in fact, he was quite proud of his recently discovered heritage. What unsettled him was Sakura getting hurt or worse flying around Tomoeda. Sakura thought he ought to have gotten used to it by now.

"Well, what are you all standing in the middle of the hall for! If I'm not mistaken, Sakura's got my favorite!" Mr. Kinomoto declared eagerly.

It didn't take long before the whole Kinomoto household, including Kero and Yukito were all crowded around the table, eating happily.

"So, where's Tomoyo and the brat?" Sakura smiled at her brothers pet name. Ceroberos and Syaoran had a long standing truce, and the name 'the brat' was now a joke to Kero.

"Neither could make it tonight,"

Toya and Yukito had both been accepted to Tokyo University and were here visiting for the weekend. Tomoyo was working hard on a video project she had put together, and Syaoran and Eriol were still working late investigating the disturbance they had all sensed six months ago. Eriol had said that

_Eriol, Sakura, and Syaoran had all been walking from a party at Tomoyo's when they had felt it. To say it was terrible feeling, would have been an understatement._

_"A dark presence... to say the least." Syaoran had said quietly, his had tightening on Sakura's._

_"Yes, a very dark presence, indeed. Powerful, very powerful." Sakura had seen Eriol's eyes when he said it, and saw the tell tale fear behind them. Whatever this presence was, it wasn't to be trifled with._

_"It's... so... weird. It feel like I've felt this before... almost like De Javu?" Sakura had said._

_"Your perception is getting quite remarkable, Sakura. I think it is more to the point that your ancestors_ _have felt this presence before. Whomever is causing this presence, he has only now returned," Then, just as quickly as it had arisen, it was gone._

"Sakura?" She was shaken out of her reverie by her brothers voice, "Sakura? What is that tapping on the window? Is that, an _owl_?"

"An owl!?" Ceroberos said.

Sakura got up quickly, jumping up and ran over to the glass door, sliding it open.

"Oh no!" She exclaimed, the beautiful Japanese scops leaping tiredly in her outstretched arms, "Poor thing! Are you alright?" Sakura crooned

She carried the owl to the counter and quickly but carefully toweled it off, it hooted gratefully.

"Sakura? What is that, does it have something in it's talons?" Yukito said glancing confusedly at all who remained at the table.

"_It does!_" she hadn't noticed it before, too shocked by the bird's arrival and preoccupied by drying it off. She took the carefully rolled up piece of parchment and immediately knew that something very odd was occurring. The parchment, though apparently traveling from-who-knows-where through the worse storm in almost a decade, was, in fact, completely dry. Upon examining it, she noticed a rust colored wax seal, emblazoned with a elaborately decorated shield with four quadrants dedicated to animals. She could sense something about this paper. It felt, well, she could only describe it as warm, but it was more than that.

Opening it, all eyes watching, she unrolled it carefully. It was blank. She sighed, realizing she had been holding her breath, "Well, we'll never know what it said. The rain must have washed all the ink-" Almost dropping it she watched in wonder as, too her complete astonishment, words began to self write themselves. Not just words, but a picture at the top, a shield identical to the one on the seal, "Kero! Look! Quick!"

Flying over as fast as he could, Sakura and Kero read carefully the passage as it revealed itself.

_To Ms. Sakura Kinomoto, Kinomoto Residence, halfway between the kitchen and the dinning room._

_We are pleased to announce that you have been selected as part of an exclusive magic exchange programme that is being hosted by the _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to share in the magical experience that our school has to offer. Upon the review of the resume we received by an anonymous beneficiary, we would be honored if you would accept our reply for further information. Kindly write your reply on this enchanted paper and send it via the owl sent to you._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster._

"Hogwarts? Wizards_!?" _Ceroberos declared loudly, "I mean, I always knew they existed but-"

"What the hell is he talking about?"

Sakura answered her brother by shoving the parchment into his hand, which he read quickly, eyes getting wider with each line he read.

"Well, read it out loud, Toya! What does it say?" Yukito broke Toya's reading, though he must have read it four times.

"S-Sakura's been accepted to a wizard school!"

"_What!_" Yukito and Mr. Kinomoto cried.

"Yeah!" Toya proceeded to read the letter, only to have it snatched out of his hand by his father, who read it again, at least twice. Meanwhile, Sakura watched petrified, not even knowing what to think. _Wizards?_

"Kero! What do you know about this?" Sakura asked.

"Well," He thought, "As you know, the Clow Cards are a combination of English interpersonal magic and Oriental celestial magic. Before Clow Reed learned of his powers as a sorcerer, he was born in England and raised as a student at a wizard school! In fact, the name sounds familiar-"

They where interrupted quite suddenly by Yukito's transformation into Yue. The transformation didn't cause much fuss, as that both forms changed frequently. Having to share one body was no picnic, "Sakura, you've been accepted into a wizard school?"

Toya, who had read the letter another dozen times, handed it over to him.

"Yes," Yue said in his near emotionless drawl, "The very same school of magic that Clow Reed was first taught at. Sakura, with your fathers permission, you should definitely consider this. It would be, as the letter describes, 'an amazing opportunity' to study the other half of the Sakura Cards magic."

"Well..." Sakura began, still having no idea what to think. After all, she had just been invited to a school in England, "What do you think father?"

"I don't suppose it couldn't hurt to at least answer and get further information."

Sakura nodded vehemently, "I agree..." Looking over to the now snoozing owl, "I think a little magic is in order if I'm going to send the reply,"

Toya's eyes lit up. He didn't get to see Sakura use her magic too often, usually only getting told stories in the aftermath. She wrote a quick 'send more information as soon as possible', woke the slumbering bird, who got up listlessly, and handed it to the owl. Pulling the key from under her shirt, she held it lightly in her palm and began the incantation, "Key of the Star, with powers burning bright, reveal the staff, and shine your light. Release!" Then, jumping out of her pocket, glowing slightly, "Shield! Protect this bird on his return trip to his destination!" The bird jumped suddenly as the shield surrounded it. The bird looked quite startled and, as Toya opened the door again, it flew out fast. It seemed quite annoyed.

"An owl showing up at our window during dinner? Weirdest day this month for sure..." Toya muttered under his breath.

* * *

Three days had passed, the storm long ended, before a response was given to her reply. It was a response Sakura wouldn't soon forget.

She had just sat down, finishing up with her homework when there was knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Toya had said, he father had returned from the university only recently after a long presentation and was sitting in another room.

"Hello," It was a voice Sakura had never heard before, a distinctly _English_ voice, friendly and aged, "My name is Professor Dumbledore. Is this the Kinomoto residence?"

Toya had looked him up and down in disbelief. He was wearing twilight blue robes pricked with stars that seemed to quiver as if they _really were_ up in the early nights sky, he had half-moon spectacles on and was gazing at Toya curiously with crystal blue eyes that twinkled, not unlike his robes. His beard and head knot reached almost to the floor. Sakura thought she had seen something similar in a fairytale she had read many years ago.

"Yes, I'm Toya Kinomoto."

"I'm here about Hogwarts School. Perhaps we could discus this with your family?"

"Uh... sure. Please come in," He bowed Professor Dumbledore in and closed the door behind him.

Upon spotting Sakura he greeted her politely as Toya went to get his father, "Ahh, and you must be Miss Kinomoto! A pleasure to meet you."

"Uh... Hello, Professor," She said, getting up and bowing slightly. For some reason, the professor made her rather nervous. He smiled politely, obviously not wanting to continue until her father joined them.

"Mr. Kinomoto! It's very nice to meet you!" Dumbledore greeted heartily as Mr. Kinomoto and Ceroberos appeared from the upstairs, and Toya introduced his father to Professor Dumbledore.

"Ahh, Professor Dumbledore! It's very good to meet you!" He bowed low to the Professor, before taking his hand a shaking it firmly, "Please, come inside. We should go to the living room."

The entire party then gathered themselves in the living room, and the group settled down.

"Care for some jasmine tea?" Dumbledore inquired, politely.

A murmur of nervous acquiescence was the reply.

Dumbledore immediately pulled what could only be a wand and flicked it severely once, followed by several swishes back and forth. To the bemusement of Ceroberos, the astonishment of Toya and Mr. Kinomoto, and the wonder of Sakura, five white, china tea cups and saucers, a teapot, cream, and a sugar bowl appeared: all suspended in mid-air as if attached with invisible strings from the ceiling. With another flourish, all the occupants of the room, including the greedy-eyed spirit beast held cups of piping hot jasmine tea.

"This... is... AMAZING!" Ceroberos declared with glee, so riled up that he nearly dumped the remainder of his tea, "Best tea I've ever had!"

"Really?" Dumbledore said curiously, "Most people swear that I put just a little too much 'zing' into it."

"No, no! I like my tea with zing!" Dumbledore gave the curious creature a smile that said he though Ceroberos was _made_ of 'zing'.

"I'm glad you appreciate it so," Sakura suddenly realized that the professor had been conversing with her spirit beast, who looked like a talking plush toy, and didn't seem surprised in the least. It was if talking plush toys were a fixture of everyone's house he visited.

"Mr. Dumbledore, sir," Mr. Kinomoto began curiously, apparently eager to 'get down to business', "Is it true that your intentions are to enroll my daughter in a school of magic?"

"More or less, yes." Professor Dumbledore took another sip of tea before continuing, "I, and the Board of Governors, see great potential in Sakura. We wish to pass down our knowledge in witchcraft and wizardry, seeing as Sakura is already adept in the ways of sorcerery," Dumbledore's sparkling eyes trained briefly on Sakura's necklace, the Key of Sealing hanging safely around her neck, "If you were to choose and accept our proposal, then you would spend the next semester, or if you choose, longer at our school in the Scottish highlands. There, you would make friends, learn the skills of a wizard, and... partake in our culture."

There was a thick silence for a time, all eyes on Dumbledore. Sakura finally broke the silence, "Well, what do you guys think?"

Another brief silence before Ceroberos spoke up, "I think you should go for it!" He said adamantly, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and there is a lot you could learn about..." glancing at Dumbledore, "you-know-what while your their. If it's true Clow Reed was a student there, well, it's only fitting you study there as well." Sakura thought it rather pointless trying to hide her powers and the cards. After all, Dumbledore seemed to know a lot about her already.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows ever so slightly at the mention of Clow Reeds name. Sakura looked towards her father, her eyes asking the obvious.

"What do _you_ think, dad?"

"Well... I agree with Ceroberos. It would be an honor to be sent to an academy in England. Seeing as you have...er... your special talents, it only makes sense you would go to a school specializing in such matters. How much is tuition?"

"Tuition is free, all that is necessary is class materials, and those can be purchased on academic funding."

Toya looked rather thoughtful, "I've gotta admit, an all expense paid scholarship to wizarding school, that is pretty cool..."

Sakura agreed, but there was still one thing holding her back, "What about my life here? My friends and my family?"

"Well," Dumbledore began, "I could understand how important those things are to you, and how unwilling you would be to give them up. If you need time to discuss it with them, take as long as you need. Otherwise, you could come home during holidays, and keep in touch via owl. Since you do live rather far away, connection by floo network is impossible, but we can always make other methods of returning available, should that be what you choose,"

Sakura sat there, staring of into space, thinking. It was true, it was an amazing and exciting opportunity, and just the thought made her heart race with the possibilities. The only question left in her mind was: would Li and Tomoyo share the same sentiments as her family and Ceroberos, or would they be hurt or angry by her leaving? Well, Tomoyo was always telling her that she should do something for herself, and Li kept bugging her that magical experience wasn't enough, and that she really needed to get some training so...

"I'll do it, professor."

"Excellent! I'll return in three days to take you to Diagon Alley, and then we'll finish any remaining paperwork!" Dumbledore got up and bowed to each of them slightly, winking at Ceroberos, "If you'll excuse me, I do believe I must go! Have a good day to you all!" And just like that, he turned on the spot and had vanished with a quiet crack before he had turned all the way around, much to the surprise of the Kinomoto family.

* * *

Three days later.

* * *

Sakura Kinomoto was packed with some sentimental items and awaiting Dumbledore's return. Thankfully, Tomoyo had been very supportive, wholeheartedly agreeing with her decision. There had been a rather teary farewell a couple of hours ago, and Sakura had promised that she would write often.

Syaoran had much more reluctant, he simply didn't want to her to leave. He admitted that they were all selfish 'you'll be to far and I won't get to see you everyday' reasons, but he also had the point that it with that dark presence restored, it might be prudent for her to stay home and with people she knew and trusted in familiar territory. She, however, had the counter-argument that it was likely that the dark presence had been nearby, somewhere in Japan, and that she would be safer on the opposite side of the globe than she would be near. Eventually Sakura did manage to convince Syaoran that it was a good idea, along with the help of Eriol.

Sakura sat impatiently by the door in a chair, and at exactly 8PM, there was a crack and Professor Dumbledore stood in their living room as if he had never left.

"Are you ready Sakura?"

"I am."

"Good Bye!" Mr. Kinomoto said shakily, suddenly giving Sakura a giant hug.

"See ya, squirt." Toya hugged Sakura as well, ruffling her hair affectionately as he had since she was four.

"Where's Kero?" Sakura asked, looking around.

"I haven't seen him since this afternoon."

Realization dawning on her, "Oh, I know where he is," Walking over to her school trunk, "Come on out Kero."

The trunk slowly opened to reveal a very sullen looking Ceroberos, "Oh, come on Sakura, let me come, too!"

Sakura hesitantly looked to Professor Dumbledore, "Professor, can I?"

"Students are allowed to bring pets, usually an owl, a cat, a toad or a snake, but I don't see why not. Yes, you can bring Ceroberos, and you'll have the most _exotic_ pet on campus." Ceroberos smiled widely, if it were because he was being allowed to go with her, or because he had been referred to as 'exotic' was unapparent. Professor Dumbledore and Ceroberos seemed to be getting along famously.

Sakura turned to the small remembering shrine that was by the door, and gave her mothers portrait a soft stroke. She knew she had never been away from home as long as she could expect to be, and this was her way of saying 'good bye'. Bowing slightly to the portrait, she turned to Professor Dumbledore, who had also bowed to the portrait in respect.

"All right then," Dumbledore continued, casually waving his wand and shrinking the now Ceroberos free chest so it fit nicely in one of the pockets in his robe, "I do believe It's time to leave. If you'll please take my hand, and Ceroberos, if you'll hold on tightly, we'll be off to Diagon Alley." They did as they were told, and Dumbledore turned on the spot, and with a squeak, Sakura felt the constriction on her whole body as her world was compressed to the size of a garden hose. Then, just as fast a new world popped into view.

They had arrived in a crowded alley paved in bright cobblestones, and the buildings were of all shapes and sizes. It was clear to Sakura that this place was intensely magical, she could feel it coming out of the buildings, wafting off the bustling peoples wearing a variety of colored robes. She could hear it in the sounds, and off the voices, smell it in the air. She could practically taste it. The sheer blatantly magical-ness of the place took her by surprise. Sure, she was no stranger of magic, being a sorcerer for almost seven years, but the only other people she knew that could do magic were Eriol and Li, and now Dumbledore. Here, magic was _everywhere_.

Her arrival caught a few eyes, that stared rather transfixed at her and Dumbledore, but otherwise their arrival went unnoticed, most people being too busy with their own affairs. Stalking up to a newspaper stand, Dumbledore picked up the paper, dropped a couple of bronze coins on the table and opened to the front page. The sight Sakura saw made the hairs stand neck stand on end. It was a large picture of Dumbledore, who looked like a mirror image of the man looking at it. The headline read: "Dumbledore: Is he daft or is he dangerous?" The Dumbledore in the picture winked at the Dumbledore staring at him. To this, Dumbledore chuckled heartily, his eyes twinkling sadly. Although she hardly knew the man, Sakura thought it quite ludicrous that anyone could think such a man insane, let alone dangerous. Upon trying to examine the article further, however, Dumbledore insisted that they continue their journey through wizarding London. This was her first suspicion that all was not right in the wizarding world, little did she know...

Two hours later, an exhausted Sakura had finally finished her shopping with Dumbledore. She had now in her possession two cauldrons, a good supply of basic potion making materials, a hundred feet of parchment, a dozen quills, black, blue, and color changing ink, four sets of school robes for fifth years, a menagerie of second hand, but still in good condition books with titles such as _A Crash Course in Basic Wizardry, Book of Spells: Grades 1 -5, History of Magic, _and _Great Wizarding Events of the 20th Century, _and last but not least, a wand from Olivander's: Six and half inches, Cherry wood, pliable, with dragon heart-string. Olivander described the wand as small but hot tempered and Sakura smiled widely at the wand that she had chosen. It described her well.

Dumbledore decided that she wouldn't need a broom and gave her a knowing smile, and Sakura wondered if he knew about 'The Fly' and it's abilities, also she wouldn't need a pet, as she had Ceroberos. Also, Dumbledore agreed that she wouldn't need dress robes, as Tomoyo had sent her with at least half a dozen costumes that, having pulled them out at Madame Malkin's, Dumbledore said would be more than suitable at such functions that would be required for wearing them.

Outside of Olivander's, Dumbledore declared that it was time to leave for her new home for the next few months: Hogwarts Castle.

"Are you ready?"

"Are we going to have to apparate again?" Sakura said apprehensively, as she had decidedly not liked the sensation much, and the Sakura Cards gave her a variety of other, much more ideal, methods of travel.

"I understand if you haven't a taste for it, some never learn how to do it, out of such dislike for it's discomfort. This, however, should be the last time we are forced to disapparate."

With a nod, Sakura and Ceroberos prepared for the sensation, and before they knew it, they were at a pair of great gates leading up to a prestigious and towering castle. Dumbledore tapped the door three times, and the gate swung inwards. Sakura was beginning to feel overwhelmed with the sheer amount of times she was being amazed today. It was a picturesque scene, a bright blue sky backdropped a dozen spires, all set into keeps and ramparts. She was in front of large field of rolling grass that lead right up to the castles double, thick arched doors. She could see the beginnings of a majestic lake to the right of the castle, but it was further obstructed from view. For the first time in Sakura's memory, Ceroberos was stunned silent.

Dumbledore began forward, and Sakura followed. Walking up the field they arrived at the castle doors which parted as they came close, and closed as she walked in, the portraits covering the walls hailed and greeted Dumbledore's return. They walked silently through a corridor, and Sakura could hear the voices of a teacher speaking in.

"... know the technique and the theory behind your defensive magic... "

Through another door and into a gigantic hall lined with four empty tables and an enchanted ceiling that reflected the sky outside (A clear, sunny day, though it had been a bit chilly out), into another corridor, and marching strait to a statue of a gargoyle.

"Marshmallow Cream." Dumbledore stated plainly, the gargoyle jumped out of the way, revealing rotating circular stairs. Sakura followed Dumbledore up, before he reached a wooden door. Tapping the handle three times and saying the incantation, "Alohomora," the door swung open. Dumbledore walked behind his desk, took a seat on the chair and began to speak to the portraits immediately.

"Phineas, tell Remus that I must cancel our plans for this evening. Mr. Fortescue, please have Professor Umbridge join me in my office with Ms. Kinomoto. Mr. Dippet, please go find Miss. Granger, I do believe that she would be in Professor Vector's class today," Sakura swore she heard Dumbledore mutter, "better get this over with," under his breath as the three painted men disappeared from the side of the paintings they were in. She jumped when she saw this, remembering how 'The Silent' had hidden its spirit as a woman on a painting.

"Tell me, are you enjoying the wizarding world so far?" Dumbledore smiled at her, gesturing that she should sit in one of the two chairs in front of the desk. There were silver spinning and humming and whirring and vibrating instruments all over the multi-layered room, and an old, snoring hat perched atop a shelf. Also, a pole that could only be used as a perch for a large bird stood empty in a corner.

"It's been... AMAZING! Simply amazing! Breath taking I could say!"

"I am so very glad you think so, and I don't have much time to be candid, but I need to ask of you a favor," Dumbledore said politely.

The hair on Sakura's neck stood on end. There was a catch, there always was a catch, but who knows, maybe it won't be so bad, "What can I do for you Professor?"

"You are an insightful young lady, already I can tell that you feel something is wrong with our world?" Sakura didn't answer, not out of disrespect, but it seemed the question that needed no answer, "I need your help-"

"Stop professor, we are being listened to." Sakura said simply. Though she was being bombarded with constant magical signatures, she _could_ feel a presence behind the door.

"Please come in, Professor Umbridge." Dumbledore spoke clearly, and the door opened. The most ugly woman Sakura had ever seen stepped through the door. She had big, bulged green eyes, large lips that seemed to stretch much too far across her face. She was almost a foot shorter than Sakura, and she held an air of arrogance around her. For no real reason, just the sight of her soured Sakura's blood.

"Hem, hem. You wished to see me, though I must complain on being interrupted during the middle of a lesson, Professor Dumbledore." She said with a sing-song voice.

"I wished to introduce you to Sakura Kinomoto, she is a new magical exchange student under the house of sorcerery."

"A sorcerer?" The disgust in her voice was cleverly veiled as surprise, "The Minister of Magic would not condone such an act-"

"Actually, he already has," Dumbledore cut off, pressing a piece of parchment towards her on his desk, which she unceremoniously picked up and read.

"This is a document made four years ago. Under current circumstances-"

"What circumstances would that be, Professor? Or are you suggesting that Cornelius Fudge's words _expire_?"

"No, I am not saying anything of the sort," She seemed to relent, "She will be allowed to study-"

"She will be allowed to study here because _I _have said so. If there no other objections, you are dismissed, professor," There was a brief moment of silence, Umbridge keeping all the hate out of her face except from her eyes, before she silently turned around and left. Dumbledore stared at the door for some time before turning to Sakura.

"Is she still there?"

"No, professor."

"I'd think not," He smiled to himself, "Sorry about that, I thought I'd take care of a problem before it became an issue-"

There was another knock on the door.

"Ahh! Miss Granger! Please come in!" Dumbledore said, "Sit and join us!"

Through the door came in a bright eyed girl of Sakura's age, who's prominent bushy brown hair cascaded down her back. She took a curious glance at Sakura, who was still wearing normal clothing, a white Godzilla t-shirt none the less, and sat quietly in the chair next to her.

"I would like to introduce you to Sakura Kinomoto of Japan. She is a sorcerer here as an exchange student to learn wizardry, and also Ceroberos, Guardian Beast of the Sakura Cards." Ceroberos, who had been sitting on Sakura's shoulder, gave Hermione a dramatic wave. Of course, Hermione had never encountered a spirit beast before, nor had she seen or heard of Sakura Cards, and that was apparent by the slightly opened mouthed expression she gave Dumbledore that indicated she had no idea what he was talking about.

"I believe a proper sorting is in order," Dumbledore said ignoring her confusion, using his wand to summon the disheveled hat on the shelf, "If you'll allow me," he said, dropping the hat on her head.

"Hmm.." Sakura heard a new voice, and it was apparently coming from the hat, "Ha, a little late in the year and not from around here are you. Lets see... yes, I would have to say: GRYFFINDOR!" Sakura's eyes went wide. _Gryffindor?_ What the hell was a Gryffindor?

"I see no objections to her staying with you in Gryffindor tower as well? If you'll help tutor her in magic and be her guide?" Here Hermione nodded, "Thank you. Now, run along, I have to run an errand at the Ministry." And with that Sakura and Hermione were ushered out of Dumbledore's office.

For a second, the two of them just stood by the statue of the gargoyle, looking at each other in surprise, then, Hermione faltered, "Hermione Granger, fifth year Gryffindor," She held her hand out, Sakura took it.

"Sakura Kinomoto, sorcerer, and apparently now, a first year Gryffindor. A Gryffindor... as opposed to... what?"

And so in the next few hours Hermione described _everything_. Sakura could tell right away why Dumbledore had chosen Hermione as her guide. She had a kind of intelligence that was infectious, just by having her around you _thought_ better. She told Sakura about transfiguration, about Quidditch, about wizarding customs and such, about how she was fighting the enslavement of these poor creatures called house-elves. She showed Sakura, the entire castle, explained the differences between the four houses.

"Bubertuber Puss," Hermione had stopped mid-sentence on explaining the intrinsics of goblin society to give the password to a portrait of a rather hefty lady, the portrait swung open to reveal a spacious and well furnished recreational room. It had a large fireplace in one corner and two sets of stairs leading off the sides to higher levels.

"This is the Gryffindor common room. It's where we study and hang out on our free time between classes. Also-"

"Hermione! Where have you been!" A red-headed boy, also the same age as Sakura came bounding over to the pair standing in the portrait hole, "Who's this? Harry come get a look at what this lady is wearing!"

"Ronald!"

"Whats wrong with what I'm wearing!"

Both Hermione and Sakura had declared simultaneously.

"N-nothing! Is that a muggle monster?"

"That's Godzilla!" Sakura wasn't sure whether he was genuinely curious or insulting her.

"Forgive Ronald here," Hermione said flashing him a glare that even made Sakura cringe slightly, "He's a pure-blood and has about as much exposure to the non-magical community as you do to the magical one. That, and he's plain rude."

"Oi!"

"Whats going on? Who is that Hermione?" Who could only be Harry came down from the stairs and gave Sakura a curious look. He had black, bedraggled hair and an odd lightning shaped scar on the left side of his forehead. Sakura could have sworn she saw it shimmer, but only for an instant.

"Everyone, this is Sakura Kinomoto, she's a sorceress." Hermione said matter-of-fact-ly, as if by her saying that, then they would automatically know everything about her. When both Harry and Ron gave her a confused look, she sighed and continued, "She's a sorceress, meaning she isn't a wizard but studies magic under a different house, at least till now, she's apparently starting studding here. 'Wizard' is simply one of many houses of magic."

"So, sorceress, huh? What exactly does that mean you do?" Ron said, this time it was obvious to Sakura he was actually curious, and not a stupid idiot. So that only left the question of whether she told them or not. Could she trust them?

"Come on, Ron!" Hermione declared exasperated.

"What! I'm trying to be nice!"

"Hi, my name is Harry Potter," Harry said, ignoring Ron and Hermione as they began to bicker. Sakura shook his hand. They talked for a while, and it became apparent that Harry seemed almost _relieved_ that she had no real knowledge of the wizarding world. Other than that, Harry seemed a reasonable enough guy, although a bit guarded for her liking, and rather quiet. After five minutes of light arguing, Harry decided he couldn't ignore the two anymore and proceeded to draw his wand.

"You wouldn't know nice if it jumped in front of you wearing pink pajamas!" Ron declared.

"Another bickering word out of either of you and I swear I'll jinx you both!" Harry said quietly.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other stunned, obviously surprised by his actions.

Ron shrugged at Hermione, then looked back to Harry, "I suppose It's better than your hollering, mate."

Hermione chuckled, and just like that, everyone was best friends again. The four of them sat on couches facing each other by the fire, a few more fellow Gryffindors coming in and out of the common room every few minutes, introducing themselves, before leaving. Ginny Weasley actually stayed for several minutes before running off to the library complaining about a potion essay.

"Really, I mean you say you only got your wand this afternoon, yet you swear you can do magic? How?" He was just curious, but little did he know he had a tendency to ask just the right questions. She had been listening carefully and decided she could trust them with her secret.

"Do you... really want to know? I mean, it's kind of a secret to me," She asked quietly.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley all looked up at her with equal looks of expectancy, like small children wanting to see a magic trick.

She sighed, "All right, but I don't want everyone knowing about this, not yet. I'm still not used to telling people about this," Sakura got up and walked towards the fireplace, stopping a few feet short. She turned to smile at them, holding the Key in her hand.

"Key of the Star, with powers burning bright," A magic circle appeared on the ground, it was bright and powerful, and seemed to make the whole room a bit dimmer, "reveal the staff, and shine your light! Release!" With the sound of humming energy and a crack the Sealing Staff grew out of the key, the magic circle faded away.

The faces which had been watching her expectantly were now staring, mouths opened, flabbergasted. Even Hermione, who'd never get caught staring like this couldn't help herself.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"You mean, there's more?" Ron said, a part of his brain recovering from the shock.

"Of course theres more," Sakura said, "What use would just the Sealing Staff be?"

"W-well, what can you do?" Harry chimed in, his interest definitely peaked.

She smiled again, trying not to blush from embarrassment, and with a wave of her hand, the 53 Sakura cards floated joyously around her, glowing softly.

"Take your pick."

"So each of these cards," Hermione had actually recomposed herself, seeing an opportunity to be academic, "they _do_ something?"

Ron and Harry got up and joined Hermione.

"Whats this one do?" Ron asked, pointing carefully at one as it rotated past him. It was a pink picture of what had always looked to her like a bunny rabbit. It was 'The Jump'.

"Open the window and I'll show you,"

Harry, looking unsure, went up to window and unlocked it, then threw it open.

"Like this?"

"Jump!" She said, bringing the wand down and striking the card in question, instantly the card exploded in a menagerie of magic, and the remaining cards returned to her, minus one that Harry had grabbed onto. She ran to the window, and as Hermione screamed after her, Sakura jumped off the seventh story ledge.

"IS SHE NUTS!" Harry yelled looking out the window. Sakura hit the ground and jumped back up into the air, and then to Harry's chagrin grasped the sides of the opened window and pulled herself inside.

"No! She's bloody brilliant!" Ron declared with wide eyes and a smile to match.

"Don't swear, Ron," Hermione added in a tone that said it was something she said often, "But, yes, that was very impressive."

"Whats this one do?" He held onto a card with a book on the cover. 'The Create'.

"Makes a book. Anything I write in it becomes real as long as I keep writing in it."

"This is definitely powers that Voldemort would want to get his hands on," Harry said, Ron suddenly and unexplainably flinched.

"Voldemort?"

"Arghh! A double!" Hearing the name twice, Ron had nearly jumped in the air he shook so visibly, earning him a reproachful look from Hermione, but it didn't take long for all three wizards to look at each other with significant looks.

"You don't know about Voldemort?" Harry said quietly ("A triple!" cried Ron).

"No, who is he?"

"Only the darkest wizard in recorded history!" Ron declared flabbergasted.

So they told her the tale of how sixteen years ago he had tried to kill Harry, but wasn't able to do it because of the love of his mother sacrificed herself to save him, something that touched Sakura very much, for she to lost her mother at an early age. They told her about the sorcerers stone, the basilisk, false betrayals and real betrayals, and about a staged tri-wizard tournament.

"Then, when me and Cedric..." Harry stopped, his eyes had taken on a blank look. Hermione gave him a comforting hug.

"The tournament was a ruse," Ron continued for him, "When they touched the trophy, Cedric and Harry were teleported to who-knows-where, there Peter Petigrew was with a hideous preform of you-know-who. They killed Cedric strait off, and well, they cut Harry open and used his blood in a ritual that gave him a new body. He's at normal strength now, and while he's amassing forces to take over Britain, the Ministry has been treating Harry and Dumbledore like their criminals," He was despondently pacing as if he didn't know what to do with himself.

Sakura could hardly believe the tale she had just heard. All the things these three had done... had survived. It made her little ventures with magic seem quite tame. Well, not tame, but on a different league altogether. It was an incredible coincidence, to say the least, that she would be paired off with these three: the pivoting point on a war against evil. It was dark out, and fear betrayed in her eyes, glowing by the candlelight.

"That would have been about six months ago," Harry said weakly.

Six months ago! It was all Harry needed to say when she remembered dark presence, terrible and powerful. It had felt like De Javu. The world had seen this terror before. They had all sensed Voldemort's return, 5,000 miles away! Her mouth was agape, she looked to each of them in disbelief. It didn't take her any more convincing that these three were not ordinary wizards. Anybody that could stand up to that kind of evil, well, she decided, she always jumped into these things head first.

"Well, what can I do to help?"

"What?" The three of them chimed in with equal voices of surprise.

"I-I just thought you should know the tale! Know what the darker half of wizard kind and what we've been up against!" Ron declared aghast, "Your not even a wizard yet!"

"Thats never stopped me before, I have a tendency to find destiny _before _it finds me!"

With that she yawned greatly, and for the first time she realized that she had woken up a 7AM, left Japan at 8PM, where it was 10AM here in England, and it was now 10PM here: she had been awake for 23 hours, and she told them so promptly.

Hermione took her up the stairs leading to the girls dormitories, and opened a door to the fifth year dorms. Already an extra bed had been set up, with all her supplies waiting for her. She changed into pajamas and lay down. "What a day," she muttered to herself, "What a week. What a life." before sleep claimed her.


	2. I'll eat my arithmancy homework!

A/N: Yes, do expect the story to take POV from other characters other than Sakura, and don't think Li, Meilin, and Tomoyo won't make extended appearances. This is my first fan fiction, so please don't be too harsh. I'm much better at action than tense romance, but chances are I'll be giving it a try. How could I call myself a writer if I didn't? The pairings are: Sakura/Syaoran, Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Eli/Tomoyo. Neville/Hannah

Chapter 2: I'll eat my arithmancy homework!

"Sakura!"

"Mnnn"

"Sakura! Ice water!"

If lightning had two legs, it would describe Sakura as she sat upright. She held up her hands to defend herself from any incoming offending ice water that might try and give her a rude awakening, not that Ceroberos hadn't already. Sakura growled unpleasantly when she realized that the threat of cold water splashed in her face had been a hollow one, and responded by thrusting her face in her pillow.

"Sakura!" Cero whined, "I'm sorry I had to wake you up like that, but everyone else went downstairs half an hour ago! Your going to be late! AGAIN!"

Sakura shifted and looked around. Sure enough, the sun streaming in the windows fell on empty beds. Throwing herself up with a frustrated squeal she changed into her school robes as fast as she could, barely finishing as she raced downstairs, and in her anxiousness she ran right into Ron, who in turn ran right into Harry, who tripped and knocked square into Ginny. Sakura's face was almost as red as Ginny's, as Harry's arms were wrapped tight around her waist.

"Oh! Sorry!" Harry said quietly, letting go and getting up. Ginny flashed him a small smile, but didn't say anything more as she continued out of the portrait hole for breakfast. Harry, the second she was gone, turned abruptly.

"What was that for?" Harry said plainly.

"Hey, don't look at me, ask the crazy sorcerer over here!"

"I'm really sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!" Harry's angry face softened.

"Ahh. It's okay," He said walking out of the portrait hole.

Ron fallowed closely behind, muttering something about how "the cute ones always got off easy".

"Hey! There you are! I was about to go and get you. Not a morning person are you?" Hermione said brightly.

"Not exactly." Sakura smiled.

"Well, I'm supposed to give you this from Professor McGonagall, it's your lesson schedule."

Sakura took it and read it over:

_**-- Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays --**_

_Breakfast_

_History of Magic – Professor Binns_

_Care of Magical Creatures – Professor Grubley Plank_

_Lunch_

_Double Defense Against the Dark Arts – Professor Umbridge_

_Break_

_Divination – Professor Trellawny_

_**-- Tuesdays, Thursdays --**_

_Breakfast_

_Transfiguration – Professor McGonagall_

_(FREE)_

_Lunch_

_Double Potions – Professor Snape_

_Break_

_Double Charms – Professor Flitwick_

She smiled gleefully at her schedule, and left the empty common room, Ceroberos fallowing.

"And where do you think _your_ going, mister?" Sakura said.

"I'm coming with you! I'm your guardian beast!"

"Oh no, you don't! You think someone might notice if your the only 'pet' that fallows me to every class?"

"Awwww! Sakura!"

"Don't 'Awwww' me!" It didn't matter what she said, the puppy dog eyes got her eventually. She sighed, "If you promise not to destroy the castle you can go exploring!"

"YEAH!!" and with that gleeful remark, Ceroberos flew down the corridor!

"Just be back by dinner!"

"Okay!"

Down at breakfast, Sakura met the the several more of her fellow Gryffindors: Fred and George Weasley, Alicia Spinnet, Dean Thomas, Colin Creevy. Fred and George were having a hushed conversation with Lee Jordan, keeping an active look out for anyone who would want to overhear. The food, although vastly different from anything she had had in Japan, was delightful none the less. Several sausages and eggs later, with a glass of pumpkin juice, Sakura was off to class, trailed closely by Hermione. The classrooms themselves, as she found out, were packed with magic. Her senses, fine tuned to feel even the slightest of magical energies, were bombarded with magic that poured off the walls. So, as she sat down in History of Magic, she failed to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Good Morning class," Sakura's face drained as Professor Binns floated effortlessly through the walls, "Please open you History of Magic to page 273, and let us begin with the Werewolf Revolt of 1376..." Professor Binns monotone was soon tuned out by all except Hermione and Sakura.

Ron, who was doing anything but pay attention to anything Binns had to say, looked over to the wide eyed, petrified Sakura. Nudging Hermione, he said, "Whats up with her?"

Hermione, who had started taking notes looked over to Sakura, who's knees and hands began to shake, her hand wrapped tightly on her Key of Sealing "Sakura, Whats wrong? Why haven't you opened to Page 273? Were on Page 274 now."

Sakura replied with one shaky word rasped out quietly, "Ghost!" She pointed with a literally vibrating finger.

Hermione wasn't sure what was the problem, "Yes, Professor Binns is a ghost. Wha- Oh!" Hermione finally caught on, "You don't like ghosts, do you?"

Sakura shook her head so vigorously that her long flaming locks whacked a sleeping Hufflepuff who jumped awake a looked around confusedly.

"It's okay Sakura!" Hermione said comfortingly, "Theres got to be at least two dozen ghosts in Hogwarts, and none of them harm students," Thinking of Peeves, "Well, not permanently," she added.

Sakura squeaked and went back to staring at Professor Binns with eyes the size of half-dollars.

"Look, Sakura, you don't have to worry, Professor Binns isn't going to harm you! He's just a teacher!"

Sakura looked at her, relaxing slightly, but still didn't take her eyes off Professor Binns or remove her white knuckled fingers from the key for the entire lesson, much to Hermione's annoyance. Every time Hermione tried to coax her along, Sakura would shake her head violently. Upon the sounding of the loud gong the school used as a bell, Sakura ran as if hell was loose and after her, and didn't stop until she was out of the school and halfway to Care of Magical Creatures. When she stopped she groaned loudly.

"How am I going to survive a semester of lessons in a school packed with ghosts?" She groaned loudly again.

"Hey gorgeous," Sakura was snapped out of her problem dwelling and spun around to see who it was that had spoken. It was a kid her age, short blond hair, with a sneer that she could tell rarely left his face, and was being flanked by two other kids at least four times her size, "Who might you be?"

"Sakura Kinomoto," She smiled nervously, something about this guy, she really didn't like, "And you?"

"Names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," He smiled arrogantly, "I probably don't need to say much more than that, you've probably heard of my father: Lucious Malfoy. Kinomoto, huh? Is that a Japanesse wizarding family?"

"No, no one in my family can do magic. My fathers a professor and my brother goes to Tokyo University," She said simply, thinking _This guy is starting to really creep me out, were is everyone?_

If she thought he looked arrogant before, it was nothing compared to how he looked _after_ he found out her parentage, "Your a _mudblood swine_? To think, I was wondering what you looked like _under_ those robes! Shame, really. I bet your a Gryffindor Sakura's face went beet red. This gaki was insulting her _and_ her family!

"Oh no! Sakura!" Hermione said when she saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle approach Sakura who had finally stopped to catch her breath. She went to go run to her aid when she felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Ron.

"Wait, I want to see how this goes," Ron said with a curious look on his face, Hermione shot him a disapproving look before looking back to her new friend.

Harry chuckled slightly, "You mean you want to see how badly Malfoy gets hurt."

"If you don't shut up about my family, I'm really going to have to hurt you," Sakura said, green eyes almost glowing with suppressed rage.

Malfoy laughed, "Let me tell you something. My father is so influential, if anything were to happen to me, you would be sent back to your dump of a country so fast your-" Malfoy never even had a chance.

Before he could think, Sakura had a fully summoned Staff of Sealing in her hand pointing at his nose. From a distance Harry had his eyebrows raised, but his smirk betrayed his approval, Hermione simply watched, while Ron smiled victoriously.

"It's pink!" Crab laughed.

Malfoy, however, was not so immused, "I'll put you in your place, mudblood!" he whipped out his wand.

"Watery!" Sakura struck the card just as the Daisy Headed Jinx came off of Malfoys wand, which instead of striking Sakura, blasted harmlessly into pale blue iridescence that was the water spirit, "Please escort the very rude Mr. Malfoy somewhere not here. Anywhere but here," Sakura's command was venomous. In that instant, the water spirit dissolved into a powerful stream of water that carried Malfoy screaming up to the astronomy tower and dropped him with a wet 'ker-splash'! The glowing card returned to her index and forefinger, which she placed manually back in her robe pockets with her other cards, all the while pointing her sealing staff at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Please tell Mr. Malfoy that if he ever insults my family again, I'll make his own personal nightmares fallow him until he cries," Sakura fingered 'The Illusion' carefully, "Get lost."

Crabbe and Goyle jumped and ran back to the castle with proverbial tails between their legs.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron declared, the three walking up to her.

"Thank you!" She said with an embarrassed smile.

"Don't swear, Ron!"

"That was pretty cool," Harry said.

"Yes, yes," Hermione said tersely, "Just lucky Umbridge or Snape didn't catch you. We've got to hurry before class starts!"

Care of Magical Creatures was far more enjoyable than History of Magic, and with Hermione's help, she was able to catch up with terms and jargon she had missed starting five and a quarter terms late. Moke's were quite interesting, being able to change size at will.

After the bell rang, Sakura, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all got up, Ron groaning the loudest.

"Double Defense against the Dark Arts with Umbridge," Ron moaned.

"Umbridge?" Sakura said, "Isn't she that ridiculously ugly lady that seems to think herself authoritarian?"

"Yes, and she is by far the worse teacher I have ever had," Hermione said grumpily, "She refuses to _teach_ us," She gave Harry a significant look that Harry met.

"Show her Harry,"

Harry raised his hand, not bothering to argue. In newly healed scar's read 'I will not tell lies'.

"Since the ministry doesn't want to believe Voldemort is back," Hermione said quietly, "It's up to Umbrige to enforce the Ministry's will at Hogwarts. Harry, well, being Harry, didn't stand up for this, and well, he got this as a reminder of just how messed up out government is right now,"

"Thats... thats..." Sakura couldn't come up with a word that did it justice.

"It's not as bad as the Cruciatus" Harry said trying to tone it down, "Lets just get this over with."

They trudged to the classroom. Umbridge appeared later, starting her lesson as ussual, not making eye-contact with Sakura, as if just by making eye contact, Umbridge would catch 'whatever she had'. The only good news, if you could call it good, was the fact that the lessons were so dummied down, even Sakura with what little wizardry experience she had was able to understand quite easily. She looked around, and could easily understand why people who had been studying wizardry for at the very least five years looked as though they were bored out of their minds.

The four of them left the Class in a hurry, and Sakura felt an odd tension that had filled the air ebb away as they left. Soon after reaching a cooridor, Hermione said, "This is where I part. Good bye."

"Where's she going?" Sakura said, "Isn't she coming to Divination?"

So Sakura was regaled with the tail of how Hermione stalked off from Divination and thus quit it, now taking Double Arithmency instead (Ron shuddered at the words 'Double Arithmancy').

Climbing up the latter into the stifling perfumed attic classroom.

"This is Divination?"

"Yeah," Ron said, then sarcastically, "Great isn't it?"

"Why is it all the way up here? This has to be the least populated area in the school?" Sure enough, Sakura sensed the least amount of magic in this place.

Ron snigered, "She says it helps keep her 'inner eye' clear."

"Thats the opposite of what she should be doing! A good diviner uses the energies of those around him or her!"

Ron stopped sniggering and both him and Harry stared at her, "You can't be serious? You believe this garbage!"

Sakura scowled so much like Hermione it made him blush. Ironic that Hermione would probably be on his side on this one.

"Just because Trellawny is a quack doesn't make it garbage."

"So, your an expert?" Harry said, cutting over the tension.

"You could say that."

"Good day class!" Trellawny came out of her side room with twenty purple bound books and twenty small white boxes.

"Today, we start the new and mysterious form of divination called 'tarot magic'," Sakura smirked. _Perfect, _"Please keep these cards, and let no one else touch them, as that they will corrupt the energies of the cards. If someone should ever attempt to devine with your cards, burn them immediately!" Sakura smiled. _Not a complete quack. That was actually true, except in the case of the Sakura Cards that are completely tuned to my energy and don't corrupt so easily._

Soon, all the students had books and cards, and were looking through them curiously, except Sakura, who promptly asked Harry to burn her cards, refusing to touch them.

Taking out her Sakura Cards incognito, she began to form the pattern. One face down, then below that two face down, then below that three face down, then below that two, than one face down, so the pattern formed a diamond. Then one face down in the four corners. She flipped the topmost center: 'The Dark'. Flipping the top two she revealed 'The Shield' and 'The Wood'.

Sakura realised that Harry was staring intently at her, while Ron, who had seemed so uninterested before, was watching just as close, "These three cards are commanded by the moon. This is something serious, not pleasant."

She flipped the middle three.

'The Dream', 'The Illusion', 'The Mirror'.

"What does it mean,"

"It means a friend of mine is having strange preminitions, or dreams, or both."

Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck prick.

She gave her cards a look that seemed to say 'all right, what else?'.

And covered the middle three with three more face down, then covered those with three face up.

'The Hope', 'The Fiery', 'The Sword',

Sakura smiled and looked at Harry, "Have any strange dreams, lately Harry?"

Harry's eyes got round.

"Well, this pretty much says that, whoever it is, is skilled in magic," she pointed to 'The Sword', "Is brave," she pointed to 'The Fiery', "and 'The Hope' is the only card I myself created, so that person would have to be very close to me. Physically or emotionally." _So I guess it could be Li. In fact, its probably Li._

"I-I have been having strange dreams," Harry said distantly, eyes focusing on something in his head.

Sakura flipped one more card over, placing it in the center. 'The Shadow'. Her eyes got wide, "Be careful Harry, 'The Shadow' is the marker of caution against evil."

Flipping the bottom two she revealed 'The Time' and 'The Lock'. Flipping the bottom most card, she revealed 'The Maze'.

"What do these mean?" Harry said intently.

"These," She said concentrating, "These are hard. They're situational. It means that something to do with your dream will involve time and a lock, or an impassable barrier. The Maze card here means a quagmire. An impossible situation," She switched her point of view, "Or it could mean literally a maze."

She scooped up the cards and shuffled them.

"Can you do me?" Ron asked.

Sakura smiled, "Sure."

She set up like before, with twelve cards down and then flipped them over one by one.

'The Shield' , 'The Fight', and 'The Light' were the top three, "These are the brightest of the sun cards! This is going to be good news!"

Then the middle three, 'The Fiery', 'The Shield', 'The Return'.

"A protector? Do you have brave deeds in your past, Ron?"

Harry smiled, "Do you remember the chess game me and Hermione told you about? The Acromantula den?"

Sakura nodded, and continued, placing three face down over the middle and three more face up, 'The Libra', 'The Hope', 'The Power'.

Sakura blushed, "Ron, this is about love!"

Ron's eyes went wide, "What," he spluttered, now unsure if he wanted Sakura meddling with his future.

"Yes, I should know," She smiled, "I created the hope card out of love, and it is in the center, like love should be, no doubt about it!"

Flipping the next two, 'The Create' and 'The Arrow'.

"She's..." Sakura's eyes got wide.

"What, she's what!?" Ron said, suddenly forgetting his apprehension.

Sakura ignored him, flipping the bottom card to see if her suspicions were confirmed: 'The Storm'.

"Ha! Your in love with Hermione!" Sakura whispered in his ears.

Ron leaped up as if she had insulted him, but she knew she hadn't. His face was pale, he had giant eyes. He sputtered wildly. Harry looked at them confused, wondering what she had whispered to him.

"How!" Ron finally was able to say.

She pointed to the two bottom cards, "Those means that she is intelligent and creative (The Create), and that she is diligent and studious (The Arrow). 'The Storm' means that your relationship can often be rocky, but in the end all storms come to a close. It didn't take much to put two and two together."

Ron spluttered again, "Well, isn't there one more!"

Sakura nodded smiling, flipping the final card over 'The Hope': the last card was 'The Flower'.

"What does it mean!" Ron snapped, Harry looking amused at the person who seemed least likely to be interested in anything divination.

Sakura smiled, "It means everything is going to be okay."

"Whats that supposed to mean! Does she like me back!"

"It's hard to say," Sakura lied carefully. These were sensitive matters. If she went out and said 'Yes, she's madly in love with you', and that 'love, like a flower, would eventually bloom', things might not work out the way they were supposed to. Predicting the future could be tricky, predicting the future of _love_, that could be darned near hazardous to your health.

The bell rang, and for the first time in memory, Harry had gotten something interesting out of Divination. Ron looked like a freight train had run over him, he had a nervous look on his face and wobbled slightly.

An hour or so latter, Hermione had finished with Double Arithmancy and returned to the common room. Ron conjured and extra cushion for her place before sitting down himself. Sakura smiled knowingly.

"Thank you, Ronald," She said suspiciously, but smiled all the same.

"Guess who's great at divination?" Harry smiled.

"What?" Hermione said, caught daydreaming, "Oh, who?"

"Sakura,"

"What did she tell you?" Hermione said sighing, obviously a disbeliever already.

Suddenly, both boys thought the better of it and stopped, "Nothing," They said in unison, Ronald more critically. Hermione squinted suspiciously, looking from the boys to Sakura and back.

Hermione was just about to open her mouth to harp on them for more details when Sakura said, "Come here, Hermione, I'll make a believer out of you." She smiled, Hermione laughed and shook her head, walking over to the table.

"If you make me believe, I'll eat my Arithmancy homework."

"Thats incredible!" Hermione had finally broken. It took three divinations, but she had finally conceded.

First, Sakura managed to guess that Hermione's parents were either dentists or doctors, then told her that her first instance in the magic world had to do with faeries that only she could see, and the third instance she had predicted that she was in contact with a famous foreigner who didn't speak much and looked like he was constantly brooding. It had been enough to put it over the top.

"Well, you don't _really _have to eat your Arithmancy homework!" Sakura teased.

Hermione smiled, and whispering, "Can you tell me what the boys got in _their_ divinations? Just girl to girl?" She looked back at Ron, and Sakura rolled her eyes. Now that she knew, it was rather obvious. In fact, she probably could have yelled it out loud in Divination and no one would have been surprised.

Sakura smiled mischievously, "I think I'm rather hungry, I'm going down for dinner, see you guys down there!"

Hermione looked put off, but didn't mention it again.

Ceroberos, who had found the kitchen, had the house elves busy making various cakes and puddings, not just for himself, but for the whole castle. That didn't stop him from eating dozens of times his own weight in junk food, and for the first time since she met him, Ceroberos wasn't hungry. Sakura tensed when she heard the news, half expecting the apocalypse to occur at that very moment.

The next day brought another spew of classes, and, for the first time, Sakura got to use her new wand. She stroked her key softly in Professor McGonagall's class as if to say 'you'll always be my favorite'.

Professor McGonagall walked up to Hermione and Sakura at the start of the lesson.

"Professor Dumbledore has made me aware of your... unusual circumstances. He asked you, Hermione, to tutor Sakura on the use of a wand until she is caught up to speed," McGonagall turned tersely and returned to class.

Hermione smiled at Sakura, "Okay, get your wand out!" Sakura whipped it out of her robe pocket and felt the glow in her hand of a new friend.

"First, where going to try the _Lumos_ spell," Hermione drew her wand and flicked it, saying the incantation. Instantly, the tip of her wand lit with a white light, "Now you try it!"

Sakura smiled, she had long been taught by Ceroberos the power of intent. What she said, the incantation, really didn't matter. It was the _intent_ behind the words, what she wanted her cards _to do_, that is what mattered. Right now, what she really wanted, was for her wand tip to light like it had for Hermione, "Lumos!" and, just like that, she had a little light on the end of her wand.

"Good! Now _Nox_." and like that it was out.

"_Nox!_"

Then came levitation, some basic spells and hexes, by the time they got to charming, Hermione was becoming very impressed at how quickly she was picking things up. They got all the way to summoning before the bell rang.

"Your quite skilled with magic, Sakura!" Hermione said.

"Thank you!" She beamed.

"Now," Hermione's smile faultered, "To the dungeons..."

"Professor Snape, correct?"

"...Yeah."

"Why do you give me the impression I'm not going to like this guy."

It took everything she had not to take her cauldron of stewing Jobberknoll feathers and dump it over the black haired baku, and he hadn't even said a word to her yet.

"Git," Ron said under his breath.

"Why. Did. He. Do. That." Sakura breathed heavily.

"Cause. He. Wants. Me. To. Kill. Him." Harry breathed back. Snape had once again emptied his cauldron with minimal provocation.

"Ahh, Miss Kinomoto," He said taking notice at last, "Mr Malfoy tells me that you attacked him. I'd say that merrits at the very least detention. What do you say?"

"Prove it. I don't know any attack spells."

"Then perhaps you'll hand over your wand for inspection," He smiled slightly, thinking she'd cave once she realized her wand could be inspected.

"Sure," Snape was taken aback when she thrust the short wand into his hand.

Several minutes of rewinding her spells with Priori Incantatum, and Severus actually reached the beginning of every spell the wand had ever cast. Handing back her wand, "Regardless, Mr. Malfoy managed to get to the top of the astronomy tower at your hands. How?"

"I don't know, perhaps you should ask him why he is skipping lessons on top of the astronomy tower." Sakura said levelly, knowing that he had no evidence, and bastards like him operated quite simply: once beaten, they would keep digging until they had reason to get you in trouble.

"Five points from Gryffindor for cheek," She didn't flinch.

"Three points for incompetence, and I believe that your Jobberknoll feathers are over-stewed," He flicked his wand, but Sakura was ready for him. She didn't need to know the spell, the intent would work just fine. _You will not banish my potion, Gaki. My Jobberknoll feathers are fine._ The effect was instantaneous. There was a bright white light over the potion and Snape was knocked back, almost loosing balance.

He frowned, "What have you done to this potion, Sakura?"

"A protection charm," Sakura said unflinchingly, "To keep people from tampering with my potion."

"Clever," Snape spat, starking off, "Let it be known, that your potion will be tested on your friend, Mr. Potter. If you do it incorrectly, his mind will probably be as well off as Mr. Lockheart's in St. Mungo's."

Sakura smiled, looking down at her cauldron, and added the Lovewing and billywig stingers. Her potion turned from a mud brown to a dark green. She stirred it clockwise rapidly to change lighten it significantly, simultaneously adding half an ounce of frankincense. She smiled. _No problem at all_.

Harry Potter came out of potions with delightfully little worries, as is the exact symptoms for a Relaxation Drought. They left off for Charms, which, was pretty much a repeat of Transfiguration, with Hermione teaching her more and more spells, charms, transfiguration skills, and now some hexes and curses (Nothing too nasty, though).

The day concluded with an excellent dinner, and some talking with Gryffindors in the Common Room.

"M'lady, would you care to try a delicious sweet?" His smile was wide, a little too wide.

"I think I'll have to pass, Fred." Sakura said sweetly, matching his smile, "I had a large dinner,"

"I know," George said to his right he said downright dreamily.

"I'm guessing thats a Puking Pastille your trying to pass off on poor Sakura!" Hermione was advancing on them from across the room, glistening prefect badge swinging as she walked. The twins shot a glance at eachother before retreating, throwing a, "Pleasure doing business with you, Sakura!" and walked out of the portrait hole.

"The nerve!" Hermione declared.

Sakura shrugged, "No harm done!"

Little did they know, that, harm had been done, for fallowing Fred and George out of the portrait hole was a small brown and gray rat, with one too little fingers.


	3. A fully corporeal patronus?

A/N: Basically chapter 16, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I own nothing, because I suck, and write stories no one wants to read.

Chapter 3: A fully corporeal patronus?

"Can we trust her?" Hermione said.

"I think we can trust her as much as anyone else." Ron said.

Sakura was sitting peacefully with eyes closed one a plush couch in front of the fire. She had survived her first week, and Saturday would bring a much deserved break, also it would be her first trip into a wizarding town since her visit to Diagon Alley. Tomorrow was a Hogsmeade weekend. She took a deep breathe through her nose, the sweet smell of the fire filling her senses. Ceroberos was sound asleep by the fire.

"Sakura?" Hermione approached her.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Well, me and Ron-" Ron interrupted with a clearing of the throat, "I mean, _I _thought that-"

"-It would be a good idea if we held secret Defense Against the Dark Arts classes?"

Hermione seemed surprised, "Yes, how d'you know?"

"Ginny told me," Sakura smiled, "She's _really _nice!"

"Yeah, she is," Hermione nodded thoughtfully, "Um, we were thinking that our first meeting should be in a little bar called the Hog's Head, would you like to come?"

"Would I ever! That would be great!" Sakura said excitedly, then smiled mischievously, "Harry doesn't know about this yet, does he?"

"W-what, of course he... well I mean... Well, if he says no to teaching it, then I can just cancel it or get someone else to teach us, I mean theres a few people who know-"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Sure a few people know DADA as good as Harry, maybe even better, though I doubt that they have anywhere near the experience as him. Even if you found someone else that would be willing, thats not what you'd want, is it?"

Hermione sighed, shooting a glance to Ron, who ever since Sakura had read his fortune in divination had been doing everything he could to remain within ten feet of her whenever in conscious hours, "No, I suppose your right. Harry just hasn't been the same since Cedric died, and he's really freaked out about Voldemort returning. I know he tries to hide it, but I can tell that it scares the living daylights out of him. I mean, don't get me wrong: I only know a couple of people braver and self sacrificial as Harry, but this is _still_ Lord Voldemort we're talking about-"

"Hey guys! Have you seen my _Book of Spells: Grade 5_?" Harry had walked up behind them. Hermione and Ron visibly jumped.

"Um, yeah, it's over there on the counter,"

"Thanks," Harry walked over and picked it up, flipping through some pages, obviously looking for a particular spell for an assignment. Hermione looked imploringly at Sakura. Sakura looked pointedly at Harry, as if to say 'Nows as good a time as any'. Hermione nodded solemnly.

"I was wondering, Harry," Hermione said suddenly, "If you had thought anymore about Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry,"

"Of course, I have," Harry said moodily, "Can't exactly forget with that hag teaching us-"

"I mean the idea that Ron and I-" Ron cleared his throat loudly again, "Oh, all right, the idea _I _had then. You know, the one about _you_ teaching us?"

Harry didn't answer all at once, pretending to be busy searching for another spell, but Sakura knew it didn't take _that _long to search the page. Hermione and Ron seemed to be intently waiting, like two children waiting to see whether their mother would let them go play.

"Well," Harry said slowly, putting the book down right back where he found it, "Yeah, I – I've thought of it a bit, actually."

"And?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"I dunno!" Harry threw his head up in indecision, "I mean, me? A teacher?" He looked to Ron and Sakura. Sakura just looked at him with an indifferent smile.

"I thought it was a good idea from the start," he smiled quickly at Hermione, who smiled back appreciatively.

Harry tapped his foot uncomfortably.

"You did hear what I said about a bunch of it being luck, didn't you?"

"Yes, Harry." Hermione said with the slightest hint of exasperation, "You can't, however, say that you don't have the most experience dealing with the Dark Arts. You've been dealing with them since you were one years old! No one else at this school except, perhaps, Dumbledore, could have killed that basilisk. No one else was able to completely throw off the Imperious. I'm supposed to be this brilliant witch-"

"You are" Ron added quickly.

"-but not even _I _can produce a full bodied patronous."

Harry sighed, looking out of the window.

"Come on Harry. Will you teach us?"

Harry looked at them with a slight smile, "Just you and Ron then?"

"Well," Hermione said looking a mite anxious, "Don't get the wrong idea, but I did invite a few people: I think you should teach anyone that wants to learn." Harry winced.

"Harry, were talking about defending ourselves from V-Voldemort." Sakura, Harry, and Hermione stared at Ron with wide eyes. Ron smiled meekly, "Sorry. Won't happen again. I just thought I might as well get used to saying it. Well, anyway, It just doesn't seem fair if we're the only ones who learn how."

"I doubt anyone would want to be taught by me," Harry chuckled bitterly, "I'm a nutter, remember."

"I wouldn't be too sure." Hermione smiled, "Umbridge isn't just nasty to you, Harry. She's just more nasty to you. You'd be surprised to see just how would be willing to listen to what you have to say."

"Alright," Harry sighed defeated, "When are we going to do this?"

"I was thinking Tomorrow at the Hogs Head."

"Sounds alright," Harry said, sounding to start coming around.

Sakura smiled gleefully. She had a good feeling about this.

"That firewhisky looks mighty tasty," Ron said with a raised eyebrow towards a glass the bartender had just poured some smoking amber liquid into, "I've always wanted to try some."

"You. Are. A. Prefect!" Hermione snarled.

"Oh, right!" Ron smiled shyly at her.

"So who's coming?" Harry asked looking around at the decrepit and virtually empty bar, save two shady looking wizards with their hoods up and a witch with a royal purple veil over her face.

"Oh, you know, just a couple of trust-able people, like Sakura." Sakura beamed, as she sat down near a wall, away from any of the grime covered windows, "I told them we'd be here about now, and I'm sure everyone knew where it was – Oh! Here I think this is them right now!"

The pub door opened, and the thin hazy light of a deeply overcast day shone into the room, before closing tightly.

First came Neville with Dean Thomas and Lavender, who were closely followed by Pavarti and Padma Patil, Cho Chang, who had a visible effect on Harry, and one of Cho's more ridiculously giggly friends. Then Luna Lovegood, who stared around the place as if she might have walked in on an exploring trip, followed by Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Colin and Denis Creevey, Ernie McMillen, Justin Flich-Fletchley, Hannah Abbot, three Ravenclaws named Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot, Ginny, a stuck up blond boy from Hufflepuff quidditch team, and finally after nearly ten full minutes of people walking in, Fred, George and their friend Lee Jordan.

"A couple of people?" Harry said hoarsely, eyes bulging, "A bloody _couple _of people!?"

"Don't swear, Harry! Yes, well, it seemed to be a popular idea!" Hermione said happily, "Ron, can you draw up some chairs?"

"Hi," Fred said, smiling casually, "Can we have, one, two, three..." He started counting off people, "Twenty-Five butterbeers, please?" The bartender's eyes were thunderous, as if Fred were part of some sort of evil plot to give him better business. He threw down his rag and began to pull up greasy and rather dirty bottles of butterbeer up.

"4 galleons, 2 sickles," He grumbled.

"Well, come on people, out with the sickles, I didn't say 'a round on the house'! I don't have the gold for this many!"

Harry watched the room with wide eyes, then nudged Hermione and began whispering feverishly to her, eyes getting even wider.

"Come on Harry!" She said, not bothering to whisper, "They just want to hear what you have to say! You don't have to say anything yet, I'll go first!"

As the occupants of the Hogs Head began to settle around the Harry, Hermione and Ron, the noise level began to drop considerably. Slowly, all the eyes began to turn toward the commanding group of three in front of them.

"Eh, Hi," Hermione addressed the group, her voice higher from nerves, "well...em, know why your here. Harry had this idea," Harry shot her an incredulous look, "I, erm, I had this idea- well, that it might be a good for people who wanted to study defense against the dark arts, and I mean _really_ study it," Hermione's voice became suddenly stronger and confident, "None of that rubbish Umbridge is trying to pull on us. Nobody could call that defense against the dark arts."

"Here, here!" Said Anthony Goldstein.

"Stupid Gaki," Sakura moaned, rolling her eyes.

Hermione smiled, "Well, I think it's time we, well, took matters into our own hands."

She paused and looked sideways at Harry, who was fidgeting uncomfortably, trying to avoid the gaze of those around him, "By that I mean learning to do the spells, practically, not just learning the theory of spells we learned in first year,"

_She was right_, Sakura thought. After the first two days, Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of the most boring classes she had. She had picked up every spell they learned in DADA from Hermione in the common room.

"You'd like to pass your owls, too, don't you Hermione?" George cracked, and Michael Corner nodded thoughtfully, watching her carefully.

"Of course, I do," She said defensively, "but more importantly, I want to be properly trained in defense because...because... well, because Voldemort is back."

The effect was swift, immediate, and predictable. Cho's friend shrieked and spilled butterbeer down her front, Terry Boot twitched so hard that he bumped into Ginny, who's eyes were wide with horror. Padma and Pavarti Patil shuddered, and Neville gave and odd yelp that he managed o turn into a cough. Sakura smiled more than slightly at the scene. However, it mattered not the reaction, everyone had turned to stare fixedly, even eagerly, at Harry.

"Thats the plan, anyway," Hermione said, "If you want to join us, were going to need to decide how-"

"Whats the proof that you-know-who's back?" The blond Hufflepuff said rather aggressively.

"Well, Dumbledore believes it-"

"You mean Dumbledore believes him," he said, nodding at Harry.

Sakura felt her neck heat. Harry stopped fidgeting snapped his attention to the Hufflepuff boy.

"_Who are you?_" Ron said, rather rudely.

"Zacharias Smith," said the boy, "and I think we've got the right to know what makes him say you-know-who's back?"

"Look," Hermione said, intervening tersely, "Thats not really what this meeting was supposed to be about."

"It's okay, Hermione," Harry said.

Harry's eyes glanced from person to person, "What makes me say he's back? I saw him." He was staring right into Zacharias' face, "Dumbledore told the whole school this, and if can't believe Dumbledore, you're not going to believe me! I'm not here to waste the afternoon trying to convince people."

The whole group had been holding it's breathe while Harry spoke, even the bartender was listening, and the two cloaked figures rose and left without another word. The woman in the veil was facing Harry eerily silent.

Zacharias started dismissively, "All Dumbledore told us was that you-know-who murdered Cedric and that you brought his body back. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us how or why-"

"Cedric Digory," Harry said temperamentally, "Was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We saved each other at the end of the last tournament, and it seemed only fair that both of us should win. If you want to know what it looks like to watch Voldemort murder someone, well, I can't help you. I can guarantee, though, it's very _unpleasant_" He said with a sarcastic snarl, "I don't want to talk about Cedric, if thats what your here for, you might as well clear out."

"What makes you so qualified to teach?" Zacharias started up again, not quite beaten yet.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Sakura moaned in exasperation, loud enough that everyone could here her.

"What?" Zacharias retorted, "You got something to say?"

Sakura held her temper, "If half the things I've heard about these three are true, than I'd think they're infinitely more capable than Umbridge."

"Is it true that you can produce a patronus?" Luna said with more focus than Sakura had thus seen in her.

"Y-yes," Harry said, as if making his mind whether that were good or bad.

"A fully corporeal patronus?" Piped in a pretty girl with dark brown hair.

"Y-you don't know a Madame Bones, do you?"

"She's my auntie, my names Susan Bones," She smiled, "So, its true? She told me about your hearing. You produce a stag patronus?"

"Yes," Harry said awkwardly.

"Blimey, Harry!" Lee Jordan said, deeply impressed, "I didn't know that! Thats some really advanced magic!"

"Is it true," Neville said excitedly, "That you killed a basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets with the sword on Dumbledore's Office wall?"

"Yeah," blushing deeply, "Thats true, too."

There were amazed and approving looks shared all around, Justin Filch-Flechley so much as whistled.

"You stopped a thief from stealing the sorcerer's stone in your first year?"

"Not to mention," Cho spoke for the first time, "All the advanced magic he had to do to get through the tri-wizard tournament. Getting past dragons and sphinxes and acromantulae and stuff."

Harry snapped his face up toward the group, "Look, I don't want to come off trying to sound modest or anything, but, you have to understand: It sounds really great when you guys say it like that, but luck is a big part of this, half the time I had help! All I can do, is teach you what I know."

"Are you trying to weasel out of showing us this stuff?" Zacharias Smith scoffed.

Harry squared his jaw and opened his mouth to answer, but Ron beat him to the punch, "Heres an idea," He said loudly, "Why don't you shut your mouth."

"What! We all turned up to learn from him and now he's telling us he doesn't know any of it!"

"Thats not what he said," snarled Hermione, Ron, Sakura, George, Lee, and Ginny all at once, so harmoniously that Zacharias was startled.

"Perhaps we should clean your ears?" Fred said slightly, pulling out a lethal looking chrome instrument, "Or any other part of your body, I'm really not picky on where I stick this thing."

Harry smiled thankfully, and Hermione said hastily, "Yes, well, moving on... the point is, are we agreed that were going to take lessons from Harry?"

There was a general murmur of consensus, Zacharias, folded his arms. That, however, could have been because he was too busy watching Fred and George's metal instrument. There was brief arguing about when the fledgling group should meet ("As long as it doesn't get in the way of Quidditch practice!" Angelina had said.) before they decided that once a week would be nice, but they would worry about details later.

"The other thing we have to worry about is where were going to meet." Hermione said.

The group fell silent, this being a much harder question to answer.

"The library?" suggested Katie Bell.

"I don't see Madame Pince being too keen on us frying the Library with jinxes," Harry said with a smile as Sakura and Ginny snickered. Katie shrugged.

"Well, we'll send word round to everyone when we find a place and decide a time," Hermione said, pulling out a piece of parchment and said slowly, "I think everyone ought to sign this parchment, just so we know who was here, and one final agreement. What we're doing is a secret, and I think by signing this, you're agreeing that you should keep that secret."

Fred, George, Ginny, and Sakura got in line right behind Ron and Harry, they all signed their names without question. The rest of the room, however, fidgeted slightly.

"What if this list should be found?" Said Terry Boot.

"Come on people! Do you really think I'm just going to leave a list like this laying around?" Hermione said testily.

"No, of course not!" Ernie McMillen, sauntering up and signing the parchment with a smile and a wink. No one else objected and soon everyone was signed up, even Zacharias Smith, who had signed last.

"Well," said George hapilly, "Sorry to disappoint, but Fred, Lee, and Me have items of questionable legality to perchase! Good Bye!"

There was a another general murmur of agreement as people filed out. Soon the bar was empty except for it's original occupants, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Sakura.

"That Zacharias guy is a bit of a git." Ron said staring at the retreating figure of Zacharias Smith, who was walking with Ernie McMillen, Hannah Abbot, Michael Corner and Ginny Weasley.

"Ron, don't swear! I know what your talking about, though, but he heard me talking to Ernie and Hannah, and well, it wouldn't be polite not to invite him as well. I mean, Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have even come if Ginny wasn't dating him."

"What?!" Ron spluttered, "She- Michael- WHAT!?" Ron cried indignantly, his face turning the color of slightly cooked beef.

"I said: Michael and his friends wouldn't have come if Ginny hadn't been dating him!" Hermione said slowly as if he really hadn't heard him the first time.

"How long has this been going on!" Ron said, "The going out with Michael Corner part!"

"Since the end of the Yule Ball." They had left the Hogs head and were heading down the alley.

"Which one was he?"

"The dark one."

"I didn't like him," Ron said at once.

"Go figure," Hermione said under her breath.

"But," Ron followed her into a quill shop, "I thought she fancied Harry!"

"Well," Hermione said pityingly, "She used to, but Harry didn't seem to be at all interested, and well, she moved on."

"Ahh," Harry said, just now removing thoughts of Cho Chang from his head, "Thats why she can talk to me now without running away."

"Exactly,"

Ron was quivering with indignation.

"Don't worry Ron." Sakura spoke up, making the group jump, still not used to having Sakura hanging out with them, not that she wasn't welcome.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can guarantee without a shadow of a doubt that Ginny and Michael won't be dating too long," She smiled as Hermione looked incredulously at her, still having sudden doubts to her abilities, Ron shook his head, thinking she was being entirely too mild on the subject at hand, which to him might as well have been the end of the world as far as Ron was acting. Ginny knew. It was written all over her face, the way she had watched Harry when Michael wasn't looking, the way she had jumped just a little, every time Harry spoke without warning. It was innocent and perfect. She looked at Harry and frowned. If only Harry knew exactly what he wasted on Cho. It wasn't that Cho was bad or anything, she was just... not right for Harry. Sometime soon, though, Sakura smiled, he'd realize. After all, it took her almost a whole year to realize just what she was missing. She sighed, she missed him desperately, and Tomoyo, and all her other friends...

Sakura was eating the remnants of her breakfast, the whole Great Hall was in a state of minor frenzy. Harry sat stonily, staring at his eggs with malice. Hermione watched Harry with worried eyes, as if waiting for him to explode. Ron looked almost as enraged as Harry, sticking his sausage with much more force than was required.

"Damn it!" Ron said suddenly, "We've been fighting this bastard for four years! Where was the Ministry then? Now when they do show up, all they can do is _get in the way!!_" He was breathing heavily, then shook his head miserably, "How are we going to survive-"

Hermione took gently grabbed his hand, "No. Don't you start thinking like that!"

Fred and George took this moment to walk up down the table to them, "Did you see it?"

"Reckon she knows?"

"What are we going to do?" They where talking about a knew decree that the "High Inquisitor of Hogwarts" had established: Educational Decree Number Twenty Four demanded the disbanding of any organization, group, team, society, and club until approval had been met by the High Inquisitor. That meant, in simple, that everything from Quidditch to the weekly Frog Card Trading Meet was canceled till further noticed, never mind a secret Defense Against the Dark Arts society.

Harry looked up at them slowly with a fire in his eyes, a fire that Sakura had seen on the faces of many before. It was the face of a determined, however reckless, abandon. It was a look that could be described with only one word: juggernaut, "Were going to do it anyway of course." He said lethally quiet.

Fred and George beamed at each other, "Atta boy Harry, knew you'd say that!"

Sakura and Ginny shared a slight smile before going back to breakfast.

The Hufflepuffs from the meeting were coming getting up looking at Harry anxiously.

"It'll look suspicious if they come over here!" Hermione said.

"I'll tell Michael to lay off," Ginny said impatiently, and louder than she'd meant, "That fool drives me crazy sometimes..."

Ron stared at her with an opened mouth, but she didn't notice, so he turned his gaping grin to Sakura, who was smiling smugly, his look of incredulity slowly became a smile, "Blimey! Your good at this!"

"...Gave permission to the Slytherin team right away. She knows my father rather well, he's always popping in and out of the ministry," Draco was heading down the table with several of his friends and cohorts, "It'll be interesting to see if Gryffindor is allowed to play, won't it?" There was a loud laugh.

He stopped right beside Harry, Ron, Sakura, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, pretending to tie his neatly laced trainers.

"Why Hello there," Draco said with his sarcastic drawl, pretending to just notice where he was standing, "What do you think your chances are of the Gryffindor team playing again, Harry? I mean," Shooting a glance to Ron, before turning to his group of cohorts, "if it has anything to do with the influence, than I don't think they've got a chance. My father says they've been trying to sack Aurthur Weasley for months. As for Potter, I hear they're trying to cart him off to St. Mungo's, a special ward for people who've had they're brains addled by magic!" The group laughed heartily.

"Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore him," Hermione droned, but Sakura had risen to her feet with a creepy smile on her face that took both Gryffindor and Slytherin alike by surprise, especially Malfoy, who hadn't forgotten that his last encounter with Sakura ended with him taking a very wet trip to the top of the astronomy tower.

"Watery has quite a temper, Draco. I held her back last time," She may have been smiling like Draco was an old friend, but her voice was venomous, "If you say another word, so much as a syllable, I swear I'll finish what I started. You won't be shaken and a little wet on top of the Astronomy tower. I'll make your worse fears follow you around until the day you graduate. No where to go, no where to hide."

Draco spluttered, and gestured to his group to follow him, who stared at Sakura with vengeful eyes. Sakura's psychopathic smile faded into a warm smile of accomplishment.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron said when she sat down again with a sigh.

"Could you have really done it?" Harry asked inquiringly.

"Done what?"

"Make his nightmares follow him until he graduates?" Harry said with raised eyebrows.

She smiled mischievously, pulling out one of her Sakura Cards and showing it to him, "This is 'The Illusion'. As long as I have magical power left, or I'm conscious, I can show your worse fears or present false images, that only the afflicted can see. It falls under moon and the element dark, so its one of the more nasty cards at my disposal. So, in a word, yes, I _could_ torture him to the brink of insanity," then Sakura narrowed her eyes, "Would I? No: a bakutoni like Malfoy isn't worth the burden on my conscious."

"Malfoy?" Neville sighed, "Whadde do now?"

"He was goading Harry and Ron about St. Mungo's and the Ministry," Hermione's said, finishing the last of her breakfast.

Neville's face darkened, "What did he say about St. Mungo's?

"Told Harry that they had a special ward waiting for him at St. Mungo's for people who've had their brains addled with magic." Neville flew up from the table like something had startled him, his face slightly contorted in rage.

"I'm gonna kill 'em!" Neville said looking around, apparently for Malfoy, the Gryffindor's in hearing range stared at him surprised.

"Whoa, Neville! It's just Malfoy, and Sakura took care of him pretty good." Ron said with a concerned look in his eyes. Neville's rage slowly faded, until it was replaced by mortification on the brief spectacle he had made of himself.

After breakfast came history of magic, which to Sakura meant an hour and a half of meditation. She couldn't stand to focus on his boring drawl, it wouldn't be but ten minutes and she could feel herself slipping asleep. So, she used meditation techniques taught to her by Lee and Ceroberos, and then at night she would read the chapters and do the assignments.

Then came Care for Magical Creatures, which today featured Dragons.

"Oh my god!" Sakura said nearly dropping her book on the desk, "I've fought this dragon before!"

Ron looked over at her book, "A Chinese Fireball? You serious?" Sakura nodded, eyes wide. Ron shook his head.

* * *

"Sorcerers have, however, been found far inferior to wizards." Sakura was grinding her quill furiously against her parchment, holding onto the Key with white knuckles, as if trying to prevent it from hearing what Umbridge was spewing out of her mouth, "The secrets they refuse to share, have been deemed not worthy of learning. They're numbers are few and far between, but in reality, there constant warring amongst each other, and their lack of really any viable magical powers is enough to reduce them to next to no threat level." Umbridge stretched her smile even further when Sakura shot her hand into the air.

"Yes, Miss Kinomoto?"

"Tell me," Sakura said evenly, "does the Ministry and yourself see all classes of people in threat levels?"

Umbridge smiled slacked slightly, "What are you implicating, Miss Kinomoto?"

"It just seems awfully... paranoid... to me that all the classes of people and races we've been studying this year have been categorized by their threat to the wizarding Ministry rather than what they can do to _benefit_ wizarding society."

Umbridge's smile was waning, "Your observation has been noted, any other questions?"

"Yes, when you went to Hogwart's, what house were you in?"

"Slytherin," Umbridge replied evenly, obviously her curiosity had been peaked as to where this was leading.

"Thank you, Professor, _that_ observation has been noted. No further questions," she said with a quick smile.

Harry and Ron smiled at her in awe, while Hermione just sat their with a smug look of accomplishment. Professor Umbridge, meanwhile, her facial features gave a myriad of different kinds of loathing, having her own words thrown in her face had definitely left a bad taste in her mouth. Half the class gave her apreciative looks, and to Sakura's discomfort, several of the boys stared considerably longer.

"Was _anything_ in this lesson actually true?" Hermione said disdainfully.

"Not really," Sakura said shortly. The group was walking to their respective classes: Arithmency and Divination. Divination had become one of her favorite classes, because she could use her Sakura Cards in them, as they were still doing tarot cards until the end of the semester. This, however, only made her feel a little better after her horrendous experience with Defense Against the Dark Arts. Her imagination was still running wild with idea's of waiting until after class and showing her the _true_ power of a sorcerer adept. She sighed, climbing up into the heavily perfumed room and taking a seat with Ron and Harry.

"Good Morning class," Trelawny said in her best mystique voice, "Continue working with tarot cards to completely familiarize yourself with their energies,"

Sakura slipped her, set up her standard divination, and watched how Harry and Ron were coming.

"The King of Swords!" Ron said as Harry drew from the top of his deck and placed it on the table, "Thats a good one!" Ron said checking his book, "Says here that the King of Swords is the fourteenth and highest card of Swords, and indicates a man of 'keen intellect and reasoning',"

Harry smiled, "I can live with that,"

"Ahh, but it could also mark a man as being 'overtly judgmental and ruthless'," Ron sniggered, and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Rather pointless, really," Harry muttered, "You give it a go."

"Okay," Flipping a card onto the table, and groaning loudly, "Ten of Swords!" He said indignantly, "Come on! The _worst_ card in the deck! As bad as seeing a grim!"

Harry chuckled, "Says here that the Ten of Swords represents 'absolute destruction, or a multitude of situations and events all conspiring to bring you down'. Trelawny would love this. Oh, but it gets a little better, 'Things are at their worse, and the situation can only get better from here'. That's good news." Harry laughed out right.

"Now what are these, my child?" Trelawny was at their table looking curiously at the Sakura Cards that she had placed on the table, and her sudden appearance made her, Harry, and Ron jump.

"O-oh, these! These are my own deck!" She said immediately, summoning the reason that she had formulated if there was some problem with her using her Sakura Cards, "I read that you should be completely attuned to one deck, and so much as touching another deck dilutes their power."

"Ah, true. Very true, but I've never seen a deck like these before."

"They're... a special deck from Japan!"

"Ah, makes sense, makes sense. Well, tell me what you see." Trelawny said.

"Um, okay," She said flipping the top three cards over. Her heart skipped a beat, "'The Dark', 'The Freeze' and 'The Shadow'. 'The Dark' being the head suggests great evil, though I'm uncertain about 'The Freeze' and 'The Shadow', they're both moon cards, and this together with 'The Dark' suggests a bad omen," She flipped over the next three cards, "'The Sword', 'The Shield', and 'The Arrow'. These together can only mean a great battle," She put three face down cards over the middle three and then flipped three face up over the ones she just placed down, "'The Silent', 'The Sleep', and 'The Snow'. Hmm," She said thinking, "This battle is going to take place at night, when everyone is asleep, during the winter," She flipped the bottom cards over, " These are situational, and hard to see what there significance is until the event is upon us, 'The Light', 'The Sword', and 'The Hope'. At least they're all sun cards," She flipped the final card over and placed it in the center, "'The Time', this suggests that what is coming we have little time before it is upon us. That is what the cards tell."

"Hmm," Trelawny said mysteriously, "A very bad omen indeed." She got up and moved to the next set of students.

Harry and Ron both leaned towards him, "Was that real, or did you make it up just for the grade?"

"No, all of it was true. Something bad is going to happen, and it's going to happen soon. I have a hunch we're going to start seeing those situational cards fulfiling themselves within a week."

"Do you have any idea what it could mean?"

"Well, It could mean a ton of things," She said tiredly, "'The Light could mean good, or it could mean literally light, and the sword probably means skill with magic, and 'The Hope' has never been on the bottom before now, which is really odd too me, but it could mean past hope, lost hope, lost love, happy memories, or the word 'hope'. It's really hard to say, thats why situational cards suck, but at least now we know what to look for." Something was bothering her, and it was a huge deal. She couldn't think for the life of her what 'The Freeze' and 'The Shadow' might mean. The meaning of those two could change the whole divination entirely, and this felt important. She could feel it in her gut, and the Cards almost seemed to tell her as much.

Divination ended on that low note, adding to an already disastrous day. Sakura sighed and, desperate for some laughs, talked with Fred and George about some of their new products, but found these rather revolting, stuff like Puking Pastilles and Fainting something-or-another. With Harry's divination, and now this new one, with Voldemort waiting out there, getting ready to take over the world, Sakura couldn't really get herself into anything. Nothing seemed fun, or entertaining, and she could already feel the inklings of homesickness setting in. She sighed again before heading upstairs to bed.


	4. These portraits flip me out!

A/N: I am both J. K. Rowling AND Clamp! Wait... no I'm not! Therefore I must own NOTHING!

You people probably DON'T want to read Order of the Phoenix again chapter by chapter, so don't be surprised if you find I've skipped ahead. The further and further we get into the book, the greater and greater the differences will be (This is a corollary of Chaos Theory), so also don't be surprised to find more 'That didn't happen in the book!'

I can't write Quidditch, and you've already read this match, so I'm not going to try. If you REALLY need to know what happened, go crack open your copy of Order of the Phoenix, and go to Chapter 19: The Lion and the Serpent.

Chapter 4: These portraits flip me out!

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarmus!!"

Sakura and Michael Corner (at Ron's assistance) had shouted simultaneously at each other, and Sakura at once felt her wand fly out of her hand. She, however, caught Michael's wand, that also flew out of her hand.

"Excellent!" Harry said, as that they had both perfectly performed the jinx and were now holding each others wands. They tossed each other their own wands back.

They were at the first meeting called to order after Dobby the house elf had told Harry how to find the Room of Requirement. Sakura had, of course, been awed by it's capablilities, and soon they were starting the first meeting of the group they affectionately called Dumbledore's Army.

"You two are my star pupils!" he said smiling, then looked embarrassed to have ever said such a teacher-like thing as 'star pupil'.

"You should start on the Reducto Curse," He said, concentrating hard and three metallic practice dummies appeared near the wall.

"You want to jab, like this," Harry said, directing them, "And then the incantation: _Reducto!_" And just like that a brief red flash and the target had all be completely dissolved into vapor and dust, "Alright, you try it now."

"Reducto!" The dummies arms, legs and head fell off, and the rest of it collapsed along with it.

"Alright," Harry said, "Your trying to add a flourish at the end. We're lucky the wall _behind_ the dummy didn't get it. You try it Sakura."

"Reducto!" Sakura said, pointing her wand at the dummy and concentrating with all her might. The dummy shattered into many pieces, not as small as Harry's, but Sakura had learned from Michael's mistake and made sure not to do any unnecessary wand movements.

"Alright, a couple more tries with that, and I think you'll have that down." Harry said, repairing the two target dummies and then moving on to Ginny and Neville.

"Expelliarmus!" Neville had shouted, and Ginny's wand gave a tug, but didn't come off completely.

"Your flicking it, Neville," Ginny said pleasantly and patiently with a smile, "you've got to flourish it like this. Expelliarmus!" pointing and flourishing it at Geroge, who's wand that had been trained on Zacharias (who wasn't actually his partner, he was just messing with his head), and immediately his wand flew to Ginny's hand.

"Oy!" George said.

"Expelliarmus!" said Fred, and Ginny dropped her own wand, so that only George's wand flew back toward Fred. Picking up her wand, she said, "Now, try it again."

He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, opening them he shouted, "Expelliarmus!!" and pointed with a perfect flourish at Ginny. Instantly, not only was Ginny's wand zooming toward Neville as if it had been summoned, but Ginny flew back as if a small explosion had occurred at the point her hand met her wand. Neville, so surprised it had worked at all, let alone been as powerful as it was, ran forward towards Ginny, his own wand hitting the ground as Ginny's bounced off his hand. Ginny lay there and started picking herself up, moaning slightly.

"Ginny!" Neville and Harry had said, running over to her. Michael stood dumbfounded, completely confused as he had been paying attention to his spell casting.

"Are you alright!" Neville cried as Harry slid beside her and held her up by her shoulders.

"Easy," Harry said, but Ginny simply smiled and picked herself up.

"Come on, Harry! I want to play Quidditch! That was nothing!" Then looking at Neville, deeply impressed, "Neville, that was incredible!"

Neville immediately turned something the color of a stop sign, while Michael finally snapped out of it, rushing over to Ginny.

"Are you alright!" Michael said.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine Michael." She said with a smile.

Sakura couldn't help but smile as Harry watched after her as Michael and Ginny walked towards a bench against the far wall. He turned and walked past her, muttering something to the effect of, "She's Ron's sister! Of course, I'd be protective!"

"Reducto!" She said, turning her dummy into coarse gravel.

* * *

"M-my lord! I-I return!" Peter Petegrew walked towards Voldemort bowing low and repetitiously, so that he looked rather ridiculous. Voldemort sat on a icy looking stone chair, which looked quite like a throne.

"What good news do you bring me, Wormtail?" Voldemort hissed.

"A-a girl... a sorcerer half-brute, she...is studying at Hogwarts. S-she is very close to Harry and those horrible brats he calls friends,"

"A sorcerer?" Voldemort smiled casually, talking mostly to himself, "What rubbish is Dumbledore allowing at Hogwarts now?" He thought carefully for several minutes, "Wormtail."

He visibly shook.

"Return to Hogwarts, find out everything you can about this... sorcerer. I want _no_ surprises when I enact my plan."

* * *

"What's on your mind, Sakura?" Ceroberos said to Sakura, floating a slight distance from her head.

She was wandering again. Sakura smiled at the thought as she turned the corner of a corridor. Tomoyo had been the one who had noticed it first. She wandered whenever she needed to think out something difficult. Almost two weeks had passed, and not a single one of the situational events surrounding either of her divinations had turned up. The rest of her friends had all but moved on, Harry and Ron had resumed an outrageous Quidditch regiment once they had _finally _gotten permission back from that blasted Umbridge woman, Hermione was preparing for an exam, and that meant that almost all attention was focused on that and that alone. This left Sakura to try and figure it out alone, except with Ceroberos' help.

"I still got nothing on those divinations." She sighed.

"Hmm," Kero reflected, "Did you mention it to Eriol in that last letter you sent him?"

"Yes," She said grumpily, "Told me it was something that I and I alone could figure out."

"Humph," Ceroberos said, "Sounds exactly like the kind of ate-up excuse that lazy kid would give."

They walked in silence, a couple of ghosts passed through the wall ahead of them, and, even though Sakura had all but gotten used to them, she still felt cold sweat begin to form as they passed through the wall in an exit.

"Have you tried using 'The Dream'?" Ceroberos said.

Sakura nodded, "Too much magical interference, I get other peoples dreams as well. Some of the dreams I get are rather..." She said blushing, "Interesting. 'Interesting' enough that I don't want to try it again."

Ceroberos sighed, they hit a stairwell and waited for a set of stairs to move to where Sakura was heading.

"These portraits flip me out!" Ceroberos said.

"Yeah," Sakura said, "There cool, aren't they?"

"We'd better get to that meeting. It's getting late," They walked up the stairs that had finally arrived. Sakura and Ceroberos walked down a corridor, but instead of turning around the corner that would lead to the room of requirement, Sakura stopped.

"What is it Sakura?" Ceroberos asked.

"Can you sense that presence?"

"Hmmm... Yes, it's an animal. A cat I think."

"It's Miss Noris, Mr. Filch's cat."

"Well, what do we do? We can't possibly enter the room without tipping off Miss Noris."

Sakura peered around the corner, where the cat sat quite still, right in front of the wall where the room of requirement was. Apparently, Miss Noris had already spotted someone entering and was watching to see who came out.

"Magic, I think will be necessary, and quickly! I can sense someone else coming: human, I think Professor Snape," Kero peered around the corridor, "What are you going to do?" but Sakura was already holding the sealed key and pulled out a card.

"Key of the star with powers burning bright, reveal the staff and shine your light! Release!" The resulting blasts of wind was more than enough to attract Miss Noris' attention, but the meddlesome cat hadn't taken three steps before Sakura whipped the Sealing Staff down upon the card striking it and crying, "Sleep! Place Miss Noris and Professor Snape under your spell! Release!"

The twittering fairy that was 'The Sleeps' visible form took off and before Miss Noris had even the opportunity to begin to wonder what was happening, it had fallen over, snoozing soundly as if it had been petrified all over again. 'The Sleep' continued down the hall and veered off the the left, and after a few seconds, she returned, floating and smiling at Sakura.

"Excellent, Sleep! Good job!" Sakura held out her hand and instantly sleep glowed and zipped to her hand in card form, "That should take care of that!" Sakura said and walked up to the wall across from the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet, and paced the wall three times, as a magical door appeared.

"All right, Kero: No talking, remember," She said with accusation, "We're trying to keep something of a cover here. Everybody in the school _doesn't _need to know I'm a sorcerer. If your good, I'll have Sweet whip you up something nice."

"Yahoo!!" Kero said gleefully.

"_Kero!_"

"Oh, right!" He said apologetically, and made the zipping-of-the-lips gesture.

Sakura opened the door, and drew her wand just in time to deflect an Impedimentia Jinx. She walked in and smiled at Colin Creevey's 'sorry!'. Ceroberos wandered to the dark detectors, observing the shadowy figures of the foe glass. Sakura walked over to Harry and bowed slightly, "I'm sorry I'm late, Professor Potter," She said 'Professor Potter' just loud enough that Fred and George could here her, and get a good laugh out of it.

Harry rolled his eyes and muttered 'Professor Potter' under his breath before saying, "Alright, today we're learning to focus our happy memories, so we'll be ready to do Patronus' after the break." He blew his whistle, everyone stopped practicing and gathered around in a wide circle, he explained the lesson. Everyone was to pick a happy memory and practice being able to focus on it while their partner tried to distract them and loose focus.

"Show us how it's done, Harry!" Lavender Brown said.

"What?"

"Show us your Patronus!" Anthony Goldstein said excitedly.

"All right," He drew his wand and, "Expecto Patronum!" Instantly a white silvery mist poured out and came alive as it became a silvery white stag, brilliant in it's brightness. There were some cheers as the stag galloped around the edge before stopping and nussaling Ginny and Cho, both of whom 'Awww'-ed, before the patronus began to disappear.

"Whats your happy memory?" Sakura said quietly, suddenly feeling like she should be remembering something she just couldn't think of.

"I-I don't like to talk about it, but it's a memory of my mother and father," He said. He was quiet for a second before piping up, "Okay, so get in pairs and get to work!" Ceroberos sat silently and intently in the corner of the room, watching the wizards focus, as their counterparts tried various ways of distracting them. Michael, Sakura's partner again, conjured a feather and tried tickling her with it, but this was never going to be enough. The memory Sakura had chosen was her first kiss, with Lee some three years ago. It had been brief, unintentional, but wonderful all the same, and there was no way Michael was going to-

"Look! Dumbledore is making out with Snape!" Ginny shouted and pointed at the blank wall, this not only distracted Sakura, but half a dozen others as well.

_All right, _Sakura thought, _That was pretty good, I'll give her credit for that one._

Ron was concentrating, but Hermione was whispering in his ear, and Sakura could tell by Hermione's neutral expression that it wasn't what she was _saying_ that was distracting him, but Hermione's breath on his neck that was making his eyes get wide, and his _original_ happy memory long forgotten.

"Remember! If your out there," Harry said gesturing out the door and to the world beyond, "and you need to use this spell, it's not going to be in a room full of friendly faces. If your attacked by a dementor, your insides are going to feel like they've been frozen solid, and your going to feel like all the happiness in the world has gone to dust. It's important that you stay focused, and keep concentrating. 'Constant Vigilance', as a friend of ours once said," and everyone who had taken 'Professor Moody's' Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons laughed.

Sakura froze as rapid realization fell on her. What was a dementor? A macabre cloaked figure with scabbed skin that never healed, had no eyes only a terrible mouth. An image of 'The Shadow' flashed through her minds eye. They sucked out the heat and feeling out of the air, leaving nothing but cold and freezing despair, and again, the image of 'The Freeze' passed over her eyes. Did the divination have something to do with dementors? She was snapped out of her revelation by a stray Bug Eyed Hex and was barely able to put up a Shield Charm before being hit by it.

Hermione and Ron were quite pleased with how much better Harry was feeling now that he was teaching. He snapped at them less, smiled more often, and the glint was back in his eyes, and he had only improved that much more when Gryffindor had gotten permission to fly again.

* * *

Sakura groaned loudly as the great din became louder and louder, and even more pronounced.

"WEASLEY CANNOT SAVE A THING! HE CANNOT BLOCK A SINGLE RING! THATS WHY SLYTHERINS ALL SING: WEASLEY IS OUR KING!"

"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN! HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN! HE'LL MAKE SURE WE WIN! WEASLEY IS OUR KING!!"

Just one card! Thats all she'd need to make the Slytherin bakutoni shut the hell up! It made her want to scream that she couldn't do it! She couldn't reveal her powers in front of the whole school. Not right now, not like this. So, for now, 'The Silent', who whole-heartedly agreed with Sakura that the ruckus was indeed appalling and needed to be silenced, was left waiting in her robe pocket.

So, she watched, clutching the magic key in her hand, eyes burning down at the Quidditch pitch. _If we loose, Malfoy is going to die_.

But they didn't loose. Ron might have been mortified, but somehow he managed to stay somewhat on form. Harry had been watching the game progress, instead of trying to catch the snitch, apparently just as incensed with Slytherin's new theme song as Sakura was, and was given quite a scolding for not playing the game. All this aside, Gryffindor still beat Slytherin 30 to 170.

The trouble didn't start until _after _the match. The two teams had landed on the pitch: the Gryffindors cheering amongst themselves, while the Slytherins bitterly prepared to leave for the locker room, but Malfoy didn't. He sauntered over to Gryffindors. Sakura's eyes narrowed, and her nostrils flared as if she smelled something disgusting.

She turned to run down the stairs, but the second she noticed that the rest of the Gryffindors in the tower pennant she released the staff.

"Illusion, protect my identity! Sword!" Not even bothering to stop, she took three swings and sliced through the fabric that walled the inside of tower, and jumped through the whole she made. Falling to the rapidly growing ground, she returned 'The Sword' and cast 'The Fly' about fifteen feet above ground, growing angelic wings out of her shoulder blades. She flew rapidly to the group of Gryffindors being taunted by Malfoy, still being protected by 'The Illusion'.

"...Or perhaps," Malfoy was saying, "You can remember what your mother's house smelled like, and the Weasley's place just reminds you of it."

Harry and Geroge had broken free and were just about to charge at Malfoy when Sakura slided in, released 'The Fly' and telepathically changed 'The Illusion' to reveal herself to the group around her, simultaneously striking 'The Thunder'.

The effect was instantaneous. Harry and George stepped back, because Sakura had appeared to be a small bird just a moment before, and watched as Sakura brandished the Staff of Sealing at Malfoy. Lightning was dancing all around Sakura menacingly, carving dark grooves on the ground. All in all, it took Sakura about 30 seconds from the top of the tower to the middle of the pitch.

"Your just too annoying to keep alive, aren't you Malfoy?" Sakura _did not_ have the artificial smile she had when she had first confronted him. The look she gave was truly murderous, and the lightning that was striking randomly from the head of the staff served to enforce that point. Malfoy, alone, fell backward, looking up to the stands of people leaving, unable to see the spectacle unfolding a hundred feet away.

"Now, listen here Malfoy!" Sakura jabbed her staff at him, lightning striking around Malfoy and making him whimper loudly, "If you keep up your idiocy: your fathers _influence_, your _pet_ teacher Snape, your _blood _status, your quick venomed _tongue_, all the gold in _Gringots_... _NOTHING_ will save you from my wrath!" For almost five full seconds the full Gryffindor quidditch team, plus Hermione and a gasping Malfoy stood there in silence, "NOW GO!" Sakura roared. The lightning striking around her growing more erratic.

Malfoy sprung up and ran across the pitch screaming bloody murder. No one in their right mind would believe him. She left no marks except the grass she could repair with 'The Wood', and he would have to claim she had attacked him in the middle of a Quidditch pitch where at least a hundred people were still in the stands.

She turned around, smiled humbly to the Griffindors watching her with bugged eyes and dropped jaws, spun her her staff a few times before both cards and the Sealing Staff returned to their sealed forms.

"What the God loving hell-!" George spluttered.

"Bloody hell woman-!" Fred said exactly as his brother.

All the rest of the Gryffidors assembled gave similar remarks, save Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"What?" Sakura said innocently.

"I think I just about wet myself, and I wasn't even on the receiving end of... well, whatever it was that you just did!" Fred cried.

"Yeah, Sakura, that might have been just a little overkill," Harry said, wincing a little.

"Well," Sakura said with slight indignation, "People like Malfoy just don't learn unless you put up some... theatrics."

"Wait," George cried, eyes gleaming, "That whole act was an illusion?"

"No, everything you saw was real. I could have actually fried Malfoy if I wanted to, but I was in control, and trust me, if Illusion did it's job properly, we all probably looked like we where having an in depth Quidditch discussion,"

"What!" Angelina said flabbergasted. The rest were too stunned or too confused to think. So Sakura had no choice but to tell them her story in its entirety, as that nothing less would make any sense.

"So that weird stuffed animal that floats around you and you call a 'pet' is actually an powerful guardian beast?" Katie said wondrously.

"Your a sorcerer?" Piped in Alica Spinnet, recalling the powerful bit of magic she just performed, "Is _anything_ that Umbridge woman teaches us actually _true?!_"

"Yes, yes, and NO!" Sakura said, looking around, as if to make sure they weren't being listened to, "If you don't mind, I don't want to miss lunch. I'm hungry."

Late that evening, Sakura, Ceroberos. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all sitting in front of the fire. Ginny had apparently fallen asleep doing her Herbology essay. Hermione was giving her furtive glances every few minutes, as if she were deciding to wake her up or not. She had just opened his mouth when Ron spoke, not even having to look up.

"Let her sleep, Hermione."

"If she doesn't finish that essay of Snape's..." She let the thought hang in the air.

"I'll help her." Harry volunteered quietly.

"Is _yours_ finished?" Hermione admonished.

"No, I'm doing it tomorrow!"

Hermione scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. Ron smiled in a 'glad it's not me' sort of way, and Sakura simply smiled. Harry, ignoring the look, looked strait to Ron, and struck up a Quidditch conversation. Sakura kept reading from _Book of Spells: Grade 3._ It had been agreed universally that Sakura was progressing a prestigious rate. So fast that it impressed Hermione, made Harry shake his head, and downright scared Ron. The truth of it was that as she read and practiced the things she read just seemed to make _sense _to her. It almost felt as if she was simply reviewing what she had already read, and remembering things she had forgotten.

This fact led her to remember her indirect ancestor, Clow Reed. She wondered if they had records back that far. Then again, she had seen a book called _Vetus Tutela Alica,_ which in Latin meant "The Old Protection Spells". This book was still on the shelf and it was over 700 years old! She had checked that one out and found several shield charms similar to 'The Shield' card, spells that were strengthened by the feelings and emotions associated with the target.

Sakura was shaken out of her reverie by a sudden and loud squeal by Hermione, who was now standing by the window.

"Hagrid's back!" Hermione exclaimed.

They all rushed across the grounds, there identities being protected by both Harry's cloak of invisibility and 'The Illusion', so they would appear as small animals, one underneath an invisibility cloak. They had all told Sakura about Hagrid and his apparent awesomeness, but Sakura had never actually met him before because of his odd leave of absence that Harry, Hermione, and Ron seemed unable to explain. She knew they were hiding knowledge back from her, but she didn't mind. Everything Sakura needed to know had a tendency to be revealed to her when it was necessary for her to know. The four of them stumbled through the ever mounting snow fall as they neared their destination. This only suited to reminder her that the divination she had made was to take place when it was snowing. She was suddenly reminded of how very alone they were in comparison to being in the castle with hundreds of people.

Harry reached the gamekeepers hut first and before he had even stopped started knocking on the door.

"Hagrid! It's us!" Harry said, catching his breath.

"Shoulda known!" Hagrid mumbled from behind the door. Sakura could tell from the smiles on Ron and Hermione's faces that they were ecstatic to see him again, "Been home three seconds... outta the way, Fang... outta the way yeh dozy dog!" Sakura sealed 'The Illusion' and returned her staff to key form, figuring that they were safe here.

Sakura heard the bolt being drawn back, and the door was drawn open. Sakura and Hermione both screamed slightly. Before her was the largest man she had ever seen! They had told him he was big, that he was part giant, even, but nothing actually did justice the size of the man she was staring at than to actually see him for herself. He was easily twice ass tall as Sakura, and had to be at four times her width. It wasn't his size, however, that had made Sakura scream, it was his face. To be put mildly, it looked as if his face had be hit by a truck, repeatedly. His whole face was a kind of purple, and his lip was split cleanly down the middle. One of his black eyes was swollen shut, and cut across the top of the same side of his forehead was bleeding rather steadily.

"Merlin's beard!" Hagrid said almost as loudly as they had screamed, "You to hafta keep it down- Hey wait. Who are you?" He said surprised.

"Oh Hagrid," Ignoring his question completely, "What happened!" Sakura was still slightly stunned by his appearance.

Seeing that his question wasn't getting answered outside, or anytime soon for that matter, he gestured them inside.

"It's nothin', it's nothin'!" He said almost annoyed, as if Hermione had already started fussing over him like a mother.

"Hagrid!" Harry said, "What happened to you!"

"Yeah!" Ron said.

"I said nothin'" He said firmly as he placed a large brass kettle over a fire, "Wanna cuppa?"

"Oh, come off it," Ron said with wide eyes, almost stuttering, "Your in a right state!"

"I'm telling you, I'm fine!" He said turning to beam at them, but wincing instead, "Blimey it's good to see y'all again!" He said happily, turning his attention to Sakura, "and who migh' you be?"

Sakura, realizing she was being very impolite, "S-Sakura, Sakura Kinomoto. I'm a transfer student from Japan."

"Hagrid!" Hermione exclaimed, "You've been attacked!"

"For the last time, it's nuttin!"

After she had forced herself to talk, Sakura's initial shock dissipated, but decided that this was a conversation best left to people who knew Hagrid.

"Hagrid! Would you say it was nothing if one of us showed up with a pound of mince instead of a face!?" Ron demanded.

"Hagrid, those cuts look pretty bad. Perhaps you should have Madame Pomfrey look at them?"

"I'm dealing with it, I'm dealing with it!" He said, picking up a large slab of disgusting looking green meat, and slapping it on his largest cut, "See?"

"Wha-! That meats long gone Hagrid! Did you addle your brains too!?" Ron said.

"I did not addle ma brains!" Hagrid said defiantly, "It's dragons meat! Healing propratie's ya know?" He said moaning in relief.

"So Hagrid, are you going to tell us whats up?" Harry said.

"Can't" He said looking to Sakura, "Top secret, worth more'n me jobs worth than tellin ya."

Hermione looked back to Sakura, "Sakura's fine Hagrid! Anything you could tell us , you could tell Sakura!"

Sakura smiled warmly at Hermione's bode of trust in her.

"Still couldn't tell ya nottin."

"Did the giants get to you, Hagrid?"

"Giants? Who said anythin' abou' giants!" He almost dropped the steak in surprise, "Who yeh been talkin' to? Who tol' yeh what I've been up- eh?"

"Well, we sort of... guessed."

"Arghh..." Sakura listened as Hagrid seemed to argue with himself, "All right, I'll tell ya, but darned it! Yeh kids got more knowin's of thangs your not supposed to be knowin' than anyone I met! And tha' no complement either!" He said sloshing boiling tea into five buckets shaped to look like cups. He then proceeded to tell them all about giants that he and Olympie Maxine traced to the mountains south of Britain, and carefully tried to convince them to join Dumbledore in the fight against Voldemort. After a couple days of negotiating, there was a rebellion and a new giant became the tribes leader. A new leader that was not at all interested in negotiations. Combined with Death Eaters and hostile giants, it didn't take long for events to take a dangerous and disastrous turn that lead to him and Olympie leaving.

"That still doesn't explain how you got in this right state!" Ron said gesturing to his face.

"Or why your back so late!" Harry said emphatically.

"Who attacked you?" asked Hermione.

"Yes," Said a cold voice from the door, "Who attacked you _indeed_, Professor Hagrid." It was Umbridge, smiling almost triumphantly.

A/N: This chapter, although has Sakura kicking Malfoy's butt rather throughly, seemed off to me. Oh well, Chapter 5 will be better. Be prepared for those promises I made about freaking out Sakura and what not.


	5. Come with us, we won't hurt you

A/N: A service message from the United Fanfiction Council: Remember to always disclaim your source material! J.K. Rowling and Clamp own all and I own nothing. sigh

I notice nobody has yet made any scathing comments on how badly I do 'Hagrid speech', so I'll keep on truckin'.

Sorry this chappie took so long to post. Life ya know: It sucks.

Chapter 5: Come with us, we won't hurt you.

The force of the wind from the outside flew inside and extinguished all the candles, leaving only the inadequate light provided by the still small fire. Sakura realized, as her fingers itched towards her wand, that she could handle the situation one of two ways. She could do this the _passive _way or could do this the _aggressive _way. Figuring that Professor Umbridge was still a teacher, even if she was an idiot who deserved a good hex, Sakura decided to take it easy... for now.

"Who the ruddy hell'r you?" Hagrid bellowed.

"I am Professor Delores Umbridge, High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, and you will answer my question," Umbridge said tersely, "What attacked you, and why are returning from you absence so advanced in the school year?"

"High Inquisitor?" He said questioningly.

"Yes!"

"Well, I'll tell you wha' I tol' these folks," Hagrid began, "I did not get attacked!"

"Than how did you sustain those injuries?"

"Well, I- I fell!" He said defiantly, trying to sound convincing.

"Ah, really?"

"Yes,"

"And what about your extended absence?"

"Ah, well, er, I was on vacation. Fresh air, yeh know. Healers orders."

"And being groundskeeper and teacher of a class that meets outside, that was hard to come by?"

"Change of scenery, and wha' not."

"Ah," She said unconvinced, but moved her glance to the four students standing to the side, "but that still doesn't explain why you have four students in your presence some time after curfew."

"Hagrid's a good friend of ours, we came to see him since he's been gone so long." Harry answered honestly and stoically.

"That doesn't give you the right to flagrantly break the rules. Twenty points each from Gryffindor,"

"Twenty points each!" Ron exclaimed.

"Don't rise, Ron! She'll just make it thirty!" Hermione exclaimed, Sakura could feel her blood begin to boil. She fought hard to keep her famous temper in check.

"Very good, Miss Granger, I see some of you are finally starting to learn how things work around here. What about _you_? You've only just gotten here, you can't possibly know Hagrid!" She smiled smugly at this last part, as if she had just shown them absolute evidence of them conspiring against the ministry.

Sakura shrugged and said simply, "Harry, Hermione, and Ron are my friends, and so too is Hagrid."

"Very well," She said slightly deflated, "Return to you dorms immediately, I must discuss changes in policy with Mr. Hagrid here."

"Twenty points each! Thats sixty- I mean _eighty_ points!" Ron said, looking quickly to Sakura, and Sakura shot him a frown. She immediately realized she shouldn't have come.

As if reading her mind, Hermione turned with a slight smile on her face, "Hey, thanks for sticking up for us back there." she said, and Ron and Harry both agreed.

"Ahh no pro--" She stopped mid sentence, and the smile she had quickly dropped off her face, "Hey, you guys go ahead, I've got to go check something out."

"What! You want to go back out there and loose us _more _points!" Ron said annoyed.

"Ron!" Hermione said.

"Don't worry," She said smiling, holding up 'The Illusion', "Hogwarts hasn't outlawed cricket's from jumping through the halls yet. I'll be fine, and so will your points, Ron." She said with a smile, but it was only partially genuine.

"Sure you don't want us to come with you?" Harry asked concerned.

"No, I'll be fine. Thank you, though." before any of them could disagree, she turned and walked through a door leading into and with a beaming smile and a wink, closed the door behind her, but as she turned to walk down the hall her smile fell to a suspicious determination. Someone was here, someone that shouldn't be.

She quickly summoned her staff and cast 'The Illusion' over herself, and marched quickly through the hall, then up a spiral stair case to the third floor, down another hall, and into another. She knew she was getting near the outside, because large windows evenly spaced down one length of the wall let in a dim snow filtered light that was insubstantial, but the evenly spaced torches on the opposite wall stretched down to a turn on the far end. She continued to march down the hall until she came to the corner, and turning the corner she immediately slammed her back against the wall.

Holding both wand and Key of Sealing in each of her hands, she listened.

"Her name is Sakura Kinomoto, she's here somewhere," Two cloaked figures, they were both walking down the hall just a little ahead of her.

"And this 'Lord Voldemort' wants her?" The other figure was clearly female, probably in her mid twenties. Now able to get a better look at them, she saw that they wore deep, dark gray robes, almost black. The woman was to the right of the man, and she wore a necklace with some kind of medallion fixed to it. She noticed that the other figure also wore a medallion, except that his was a deep slate blue, a blue unlike Sakura had ever seen in a stone, and hers was an impossible red.

"So," The female began again, "This Sakura is supposed to be this 'powerful sorcerer'?

"Supposedly," It was clear that the male was much more to the point. Sakura felt the chill down her spine. Voldemort knew she was here. Not only that, but had sent people to capture her. Sakura knew what these people were. They were her rivals, fellow sorcerers. Her eyes got suddenly wide: If her theory was correct then--

"Wait!" The woman stopped the man with her arm, and looked around slowly from wall to wall. Sakura was less than eight feet way.

"I feel it." He said. She knew now that she was correct. These were sorcerers and they could sense her!

"Power of ancient frosts!" The woman had whipped her hand to her medallion, and instantly a beam of ice burst from her medallion strait at Sakura. She jumped away, and knew that 'The Illusion' had returned to card form and was fallowing, the illusion having been broken. Rolling to the ground, she could feel the frost fallowing her.

"Fiery! RELEASE!" Sakura screamed, striking the card, ethereal winds racing through the hall as magic of the stars was released into the hall yet once again. Fiery swept around her and began to repel the living frost that was behind her. This is what the divination had forewarned her about. Shadowy figures using ice magic. She stood there, eyes set on the two in front of her, staff hanging in her right hand, loosely to her side, and wand in her left, waiting and ready. Fiery stood in her spirit form, like a sentry against the ball of formless frost that was set on attacking Sakura, but stopped, as if waiting for command.

"You must be Sakura." The woman sounded rather pleasant.

"I am."

"You can't be older that sixteen." This time it was the man who spoke, he seemed, for the first time, doubtful of the situation, and she noticed that he hadn't summoned whatever it was his medallion did.

"You've attacked a school. You didn't expect convalescent old men here, did you?" Sakura raised her staff slightly.

"No, I suppose not," He said.

"Come on, little girl. You oughtn't play with such magic, or you'll get hurt. Come with us, we won't hurt you." The woman cooed.

Sakura rolled her eyes, her temper rising, "You said I looked sixteen, not _four_. You're going to hand me over to Lord Voldemort. I'm not an idiot to know that I wouldn't survive such an encounter unarmed and tied up."

The two in front of her looked at each other before nodding. The man lifted his fingers swiftly to his medallion and, "Ultimate fires of creation!" And from it sprang a burst of white. 'White' being the only way to describe how intensely bright the molten fire was that thrust itself at Sakura. The first tinge of fear ran though her mind. It was clear that these two were fairly formidable.

"Freeze! Thundery! Snowy! RELEASE!" She could feel her limbs getting heavier already. She had summoned three elemental cards, and all were draining her of power at the same time. If she wasn't careful she was going to wind up unconscious. Freeze and snowy were in their essence forms, whipping around the fire created by the sorcerer before her. It reminded her of a morning glory, strangling the life out of a plant, and the white fiery essence swung wildly like a snake, bashing into walls, causing bits of rock a dust to dance into the air. Thundery was in its rather formidable spirit form and had taken a roar, dodging around the fire and taking the battle to a more offensive posture. Meanwhile, Fiery and the icy blast had resumed their battle, ad were ramming into each other, loud 'cracks' occurring whenever the opposites met.

"Jump! Sword!" Sakura summoned two more cards, bringing her active cards total to six, and she could really feel the drain having to use so much magic was having on her. Unable to wield 'The Sword' card properly with two hands, she pocketed her wand before jumping over the icy essence and Sakura's 'The Fiery', and fell upon the female half of the duo, just 'The Thundery' blasted a large bolt of electricity at the male. The woman touched her medallion, and an icy shield summoned rapidly to protect her, the blow from Sakura's sword was still powerful enough to send a large crack through the defense.

The man was forced to jump out of the way the lightning, but took immediate offensive action by turning and thrusting his hand out. A beam of flame shot and destructed 'The Thunder', returning it to its essence form.

This time Sakura knew that the shield wouldn't be able to stand a blow. She swung down upon the icy enclave and shattered into a thousand pieces, but the woman in the cloak wasn't behind the shield. Temporarily distracted Sakura glanced around, and then up to find the woman falling down on her with an icy sword in her hands. Sakura barely had time to hold her own sword up in time to deflect the blow. What more was that the woman's hood had been lifted, and Sakura could see that she had a pleasant complexion, with icy blue eyes and deep sea blue hair. Her expression wasn't a smile, but not altogether malicious, either.

'The Thundery' danced in it's essence form, chasing the man down the corridor several feet before he turned on it and blew another several blasts of fireballs at varying temperatures, and thus various colors. 'The Thundery' and the man were forced to do this dance repeatedly, evading the opponents attacks, while simultaneously striking out at the enemy. Small fires were beginning to erupt down the length of the hallway as the few portraits here were forced to run from the paintings screaming or be consumed by their mortal enemy: fire. Thankfully, the castle was heavily enchanted with anti-fire spells to keep the place from burning to the ground, so fires that started burned themselves out fairly quickly.

Parry, thrust, swing, block, parry, thrust, block, swing, parry, dodge, parry, swing, swing, swing, thrust, swing. So too had Sakura noticed that her and her opponent had been locked into a similar dance, except Sakura also noticed that her sword was slowly being covered in deadly icy that was weighing her sword down, slowing her. It wouldn't be long before she would be unable to lift her sword, let alone attack with it, and she could hardly keep up with womans attacks long enough to fight, so summoning 'The Power' wouldn't be an option. She risked a quick _adfligo _with her wand, but found that this ice was enchanted to be shatter proof.

The five forms of elemental power were doing their best to out do the other. Fiery and icy entangled in a fierce battle of their own, while the fire that had once been white hot had now cooled to a bright red as 'The Freeze' in it's essence form tangled with it, and 'The Snow' shot cooling blasts of blizzard at it. However, the three groups were at a stalemate.

That stalemate was broken when Sakura lifted her now impossibly heavy sword to block and with one final deflection was unable to lift her sword any longer. The woman, seeing her defeat touched her medallion again and bright ropes made of ice sprang out of necklace at traveled to bind the now defenseless Sakura.

Sakura was surprised, however, when a sudden fiery beam hit the woman in the back and with a painful yelp she flew clear past Sakura and onto the floor, her ropes slowly disintegrating. This effectively distracted the man, who was consequently blown back by a powerful bolt from 'The Thundery', now taking advantage of his being without an opponent to go assist 'The Fiery'.

Ceroberos in full Guardian Beast form snarled and prepared another blast of flame, this time to be directed at the man, but was interrupted when the man shouted, "Today we are well defeated, Miame, let us retreat and return another day." And with that, both Miame and the still nameless man vanished with a hiss of steam and flash of flame. Instantly, the fire and ice essences vanished.

"Who the hell were those two?" Ceroberos started.

"I don't know. Sorcerers sent by Voldemort to apprehend me." Her voice was calm, but anyone who knew her as well as Ceroberos could here the strain in it, the thought of what almost occurred terrified her. She returned all six of her spells to card form, and surveyed the damage. Some of it could be repaired with simple _reparo _charms, but for the major damage, like the flamed portraits or the heavily enchanted walls required the 'big guns'.

"Ceroberos, I'm going to use 'The Hope'," She stated in a voice that said that she should always warn him before using this card, "I've been using three elemental cards and my strength is low." Ceroberos nodded and grunted in reply.

She closed her eyes and prepared her strength, "Hope! Repair the room, restore the damage! Hope! RELEASE!" there was a flash of pink light as Sakura struck the card, and in a swirl of wind the card became a flurry of pink energy and white feathers, that traveled around the room in a swirl like a storm, and when the storm finally calmed and returned to card form, no damage was noticeable. Not even dust from the walls and ceiling. Sakura breathed in and fell slightly, exhausted, and leaned upon her guardian beast. She noticed that her robes were completely ruined, having both burns and tears from flame and ice attacks, and she was bleeding from several cuts that Miame had given her. She cursed silently, realizing she should have had 'The Hope' repair herself as well, but knowing that she didn't have the strength to fix her mistake, the robe would have to be repaired with wizardry tomorrow.

She got up, and together, Sakura and Ceroberos walked through the door he had come through when he had sensed that Sakura was in danger, and began to talk about what had just transpired. So tunned into their conversation the didn't see Professor Dumbledore retreat into the door that Sakura had entered into, scratching his long beard.

When Sakura finally made it to Gryffindor tower (The password now 'wand holster'), Kero had returned to his borrowed form, and Sakura was hoping that her friends had returned to bed, but when she entered found them all waiting for her, awake by the fire. It would be mean to try to slip by them, and probably not possible, so she walked up them. Besides, probably better to get this over with now than to wait to discuss it tomorrow. Still, she was exhausted and this discussion she preferred to have after a good nights sleep.

"What the bloody hell happened to you!" Ron exclaimed, "And don't try to pull off a Hagrid and deny everything!"

She sighed, and began to tell the tale of her 'adventures' with her fellow sorcerers. When she had finished, the expressions on the three in front of her were all similar: tense and anxious.

"They got passed the wards?" Hermione asked Sakura, "We should tell Dumbledore."

"Not... tonight," Sakura said, "I will tomorrow, they aren't going to come back today, and right now I need rest. You have no idea how much magic it takes to keep up three elemental cards and have an active sword fight with an equal."

"Why didn't you let us come with you?" Harry said defensively, "We could have helped!"

"No, Harry," Sakura said, and trying to explain without phrases such as 'You would have been in the way', which wouldn't have been true, or 'This is a sorcerers problem, let me deal with it' because she would gladly accept help, and she too was intruding on 'Wizards problems' and had no right to deny them access to hers, "I'd rather not have had more people to put in danger. Plus, I had no idea what I would have been coming across. I could have found friendly sorcerers, or I could have found someone who was many times more powerful than me, and would have killed us all on the spot had we disturbed him," This was a lie, she knew that whoever it was, wasn't t_hat _powerful, "Plus, you have to realize, sorcery is on a whole new league. Wizards are powerful in their own right, but they draw power from themselves. Sorcerers are conduits of _celestial_ magic: They power their spells with the energies of _planets_ and _stars_." She faltered, trying not to come off sounding cocky, "I mean, I'm not _that _powerful. I can't pull the energy of a _whole_ star into my cards, but... theres a big difference between a wizards magic and a sorcerers magic. Please understand, I think you guys would have been loads of help, but I just didn't know what I was getting myself into."

The faces of her friends seemed to be processing this information, "Alright, I can understand. Just remember that your our friend and try to let us help you." Hermione said, and Harry seemed to agree. Ron seemed placated, but grumbled slightly, as if his ego was slightly bruised.

With this Sakura, Hermione, Harry, and Ron talked for while about what happened, and soon conversation had turned to more 'present' things, such as quidditch and Herbology homework, after half an hour, Sakura went up the tower and went to bed.

* * *

"The main pertinence of this meeting is about a student," Dumbledore's steady gaze met with the members of the Order of the Phoenix who were gathered around the kitchen table of Number Twelve, Grimauld Place, "Some of you have her as a student, while others of you have already had reports of encounters with her," This last part was directed at Professor Snape, "Her name is Sakura Kinomoto, she is a young sorceress."

"What interest to the Order is some fifteen year old girl?" Snape asked indifferently.

"To understand that, you will have to hear of how Sakura became a student at Hogwarts. Several months ago I was contacted by a curious individual named Eriol Hiiragizawa. I say 'curious' because he was carrying with him an application for a program that I had all but forgotten about and had passed many years ago. He had entered my office and told me that the person he was applying would of much interest to me, and, as I reviewed the candidate, I found that she was ideal for the program in more than one way. Not only did she show great signs of potential for learning wizardry, as she has several ancestors that were wizards or witches, most notably a Mr. Clow Reed, but also she was the same age as Harry. The dossier accompanying the application did not, however, go over the _full_ extent of her powers, those I have only but recently witnessed.

"To be honest, I did not bring her in at the start of the year for several reasons. I believed myself too busy with both Headmaster and Order duties to have another project 'added onto my plate' so to speak, and also, I didn't see any need to bring her to Hogwarts at the current moment. The school is quite safe from Voldemort for the moment, and it seemed necessary that Harry might need the additional protection. So I placed Sakura's application on back burner for the time being.

"It wasn't until quite recently, about three months ago, that I realized that Sakura's addition to the alumni might be for the best. I must admit, that with the unexpected addition of Professor Umbridge to the list of problems, I fear that it is only time before the worst case scenario occurs. The ministry is quite rapidly draining power away from the headmaster and into their hands. If the worst should happen, and I should be removed from the school," At this Mrs. Weasley gasped, "then I suspect the safety of the students might be compromised. So, I completed Miss Kinomoto's application into the program and accepted it, and not long after that, Sakura became a wizard. I placed her with the person I knew would be most willing and capable of tutoring her, as well as a close friend and confident of Harry's, Miss Granger. I believe that Ronald may have told you of a new friend that he had met at school in his letters, Mrs. And Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he watched Mrs. and Mr. Weasley nod thoughtfully.

"Again, Professor, what does this have to do with Sakura? Are you suggesting that Sakura, a fifteen year old girl, with less than three months experience with the wizard magic, could possibly defend the entire school from Voldemort?"

"Ahh, Severus, No, I do not believe that the school will need defending from Voldemort, I believe it is simply Harry and his friends who are in the most danger. According to Miss Granger, Miss Kinomoto is learning witchcraft at an almost alarming rate. I can only speculate, but I believe that to be the doing of her indirect ancestor, previously mentioned Mr. Clow Reed. Her experience in witchcraft is not what I believe her advantage to be, but her adeptness as a sorceress. You see, Sakura may only technically be a first year witch with the skill of a third year, but she has been a practicing sorcerer for more than six." Professor Dumbledore then told of what limited knowledge he knew of her Sakura Cards, and also of what he had witnessed just the night before. Soon it was agreed that Sakura's usefulness couldn't be successfully debated, however reluctantly by several of the members (Snape, still unwilling to admit a child could do a fully qualified wizard's job, and several of the Order members who are parents weren't keen on placing such a burden on a child), and it was agreed that Dumbledore would talk to Sakura at a later convenient date.

* * *

Sakura figured that she should tell Dumbldore sometime after dinner that day (Sunday), and had stayed with Harry, Ron, Ceroberos, and Hermione almost the whole day working on this essay or practicing that spell with Hermione. Ron and Harry had played several rounds of wizard's chess, and after the usual dismal defeats that Harry put up with, they switched games to exploding snap.

Sakura taught them all how to play Mahjong's Master with tiles she hadn't even realized she packed. This was a game that she was delighted to find that Ron and Hermione were equals at and greatly enjoyed, as that it is a game that takes both a good deal of intelligence in Hermione's case, but also a good head for strategy in Ron's. Ron and Hermione played Mahjong for several midday hours while Harry and Sakura played a couple of rounds of Wizard's Chess, that Sakura had too admit, she was dismal at, and practiced a few defensive spells that they could get away with using in the confined quarters of the common room.

Towards late afternoon, Sakura decided that she wanted to get outside and stretch her legs a bit, and Harry decided to join her. Ron and Hermione were locked in concentration, staring down the tiles on a table before them, but had the decency to acknowledge their departure.

So Harry and Sakura walked down by the lake, a cold wind issuing from the north, and swirls of bright snow kicking up from area's not already compacted by snow ball fights and other winter activities.

"So when do you think we'll see those two again?" Harry said conversationally.

"Not for a while, I don't think. I'm just glad that a commotion was avoided,"

They kept walking around the edge of the lake in silence, until they met up with Michael Corner and Ginny.

"Hello Ginny, Michael," Harry and Sakura said.

"Hi, how are you two," Ginny gave Sakura an unreadable look, and it took Sakura a second to realize that Harry and her were walking around the lake alone, and that such things could be taken out of of context, but Sakura really didn't care right now.

"Very well, thank you," And so a casual exchange of pleasantries commenced which lead to the four walking together talking about anything that seemed to come up: Quidditch, of course, chocolate frog trading cards, which lead to Honeyduke's, that lead to the next Hogsmead trip, but was quickly taken over by Christmas Holidays which were right around the corner.

"So, Sakura, what are you going to be doing for Christmas holidays?"

"Probably going home till school starts again."

"Would you like to come with Ron, Me, Hermione and Ginny?"

"Mmm," Sakura said hesitantly, "That is awfully tempting but, no, I really want to go home for the holidays."

"Yeah, I'd imagine," Said Ginny.

"So..." Michael said in a low whisper, "Whens the next DA meeting?"

"Soon," Harry said, "Still working out the details with some of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. We'll porbably start working on Patronus Charms."

"Excellent!" Michael and Ginny declared excitedly. Harry smiled happily, clearly getting into this whole 'Professor Potter' thing.

"Alright, I think I'm ready for warmth," Sakura said, "See you guys later," Sakura parted from them, letting Ginny, Michael, and Harry continue on their walk. When she reached the front door, she found who she was just thinking of going to go find: Professor Dumbledore.

"Ahh, Miss Kinomoto! I was wanting to talk to you!" Sakura thought it odd that Professor Dumbledore would be wanting to talk to her but figured it was probably to do with further details of the Magical Exchange Program.

"Yes, Professor?"

"That was some pretty fancy spell work you did yesterday," Sakura immediately felt her face heat in surprise. _He knew, or he had seen._ Ron had told her how sometimes Dumbledore seemed to know _everything _that went on in the castle. She figured it shouldn't have surprised her that he knew, after all, the fight couldn't have been to quiet.

"I see what I've heard about you is true, Professor, you really do know everything,"

He chuckled in good humor, "Yes, yes. So, do you want to tell me what happened."

Sakura sighed as they began to walk through a deserted hallway, "Well, I sensed a strong magical presence, and decided to check it out, alone, rather than endanger anyone else,"

"Why did you not summon a teacher, or more qualified wizard?"

"Several reasons: First, it would have taken too long to explain my ability to sense magical signatures, Second, I knew it was a sorcerer because, it's taken a while, but I can sense the difference between the magical energies in sorcerers and wizards. In fact, you have several students with high potential as a sorcerer. No offense, but I don't know how qualified the teachers are in dealing with sorcerers, thats more of my expertise."

"Obviously. Please continue, what happened when you found the intruders?"

"I had disguised myself 'The Illusion' card, so I wasn't noticed immediately, but it didn't take long before my illusion was broken. Some brief pleasantries were exchanged. I learned within the first several minutes of our confrontation that the female of the pair controlled ice and the male controlled flame. Both used a small pendant suspended in a necklace as a medium.

"I wasn't able to accurately get a full scope of their powers, but from what I could tell, they are very similar in strength to myself, except that I'm able to use wizardry, as well as my Sakura Cards being a combination of both houses of magic. They appeared to be confined to their single element.

From here she gave a detailed account of the fight, including actions she observed by all three groups that had been fighting. She finished with Ceroberos' surprise attack and continued to walk with Dumbledore in silence.

"Sakura, all of this answers many questions except one," Oh boy, here it comes, "Why were there two hostile sorcerers in the castle in the first place.

She was going to be honest, it was the least she could do, "I believe... I am almost certain... that Voldemort knows I'm here and sent them to eliminate me as a threat," She prepared for the 'I'm very sorry, but your continued presence at this school endangers the students' speech.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore said, and Sakura almost jumped out of her skin.

"WHAT!"

"Well, you have to understand. If there were intruders in the school and they were after you because of some sort of sorcerers affair, then you would have no reason to take part in what I have planned."

Sakura stood there, right beside the entrance to Gryffindor tower, mouth slacked and dumbfounded.

"Sakura," Dumbledore started hesitantly, "There is a time fast approaching in which the Headmaster will no longer have any power at this school, and that will make these unpleasant days seem like a sunny walk in the park. It's likely that Voldemort believes you are willing to aid in his destruction, however, he is after you because I have allowed you, a sorcerer, to attend this school. I apologize that I have risked your well being in such a way. I imagine that your time spent with Mr. Potter and his friends have enlightened you on the type of person that Lord Voldemort is?" Tellings of such tales as the dairy of Tom Riddle, the murders of Lily and James Potter, and rebirth of Tom Riddle were still clear in her memory and the thought made her shudder, "Then I must ask the favor I was originally going to ask you when you first arrived here at Hogwarts. Sakura, if something should happen, and I, nor any of the staff are able to, would you please watch over Harry and his friends? They are at extreme danger right now, with Voldemort alive, and the Ministry turning a blind eye."

Sakura nodded solemnly and said in reply, "Harry and his friends are now _my_ friends, and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for them."

"Well said! Now, Miss Kinomoto, I must now tell you of a certain organization that has dedicated themselves to fighting Voldemort..."

* * *

Sakura wandered into Gryffindor tower sometime later. Ron and Hermione started as if she jumped out from behind a rock covered in blood and threatened to kill them all. Hermione was flushed and Ron couldn't decide what to look at, but nothing in Sakura's remote direction, however, Sakura was still too stunned about what she had just done to hardly notice these things.

"Well, How was your walk?" Hermione said uncomfortably.

"I-I'm a member of the Order of the Phoenix!"

"How do you- What did you- YOUR WHAT!" Hermione and Ron said simultaneously, all discomfort forgotten and their eyes and mouths wide.

"I was just with Dumbledore, I told him what happened, but he already knew, and after we talked about it for a while, he swore me into membership."

Hermione and Ron gave each other startled looks.

"Your only fifteen years old!" Hermione said in a furious whisper, as if she was afraid someone was hear her in the empty room.

"_We're_ not even members!" Ron said more enviously than scornfully.

"I _know_!" Sakura said with wide eyes and shook her head slowly, "Mrs. Weasley is _not _going to be happy when she hears about this. You both and Harry would already _be_ members if she hadn't put a stop to it!

"What!" Ron said, nettled.

"Hey, wait! Where's Harry?" Hermione said.

"He's still out with Michael and Ginny." Sakura said, yawning.

"My mother, _what!_"

"Are you sure it was them and not someone using Polyjuice Potion?" Hermione said skeptically.

"I recognized their magical signature." Sakura said with a slight smile, "Don't worry so much, Hermione."

"We would be, _what!!_"

A/N: Okay, does Sakura being a member of the Order make anyone _else_ cringe besides me? I just think it's a little clichéd.

Anyway, No Hermione and Ron weren't snogging like sucker fish, but they got pretty close to finally admitting how they feel, Sakura accidentally interrupted a 'moment'.

Here you will see that I have begun to make my fic more of an AU rather than a 'Canon with Sakura added into the mix'. I will make my fic more and more AU as it progresses, getting further and further away from 'ground zero' which is the point in the story that Sakura was added into the fic. Also, I'm going to keep track of canon complaints and report them at the end of each chapter.

#1: Umbridge would have _never _accepted the fact that three students arrived at Hagrid's hut, yet no tracks led away. Invisibility cloaks are uncommon, but not unheard of, and it would have been just a matter of time before the idea occurred to her. I'm pretty sure that invisibility cloaks, not even Harry's, stop the Human Revealing Spell.

Also, more on the CCS universe. In this chapter I was heavy on the word 'form'.

All Clow/Sakura Cards have three forms: Card form (Not activated, a genie in it's lamp so to speak), Spirit form (The image that appears on the face of the card, sometimes spirit form can be more powerful than its essence form, such as in the case of 'The Thundery', but generally a card returns to this form when it has been defeated, again with the exception of 'The Thundery' in which it looses it cohesion and becomes lightning again), and it's Essence form (This it's 'effect form'. Whatever it's most raw magic form is supposed to be). Here's an example: The shield card appears as it's card, but also is seen in it's Spirit Form, an oddly shaped tower shield, and when it appears in it's essence form it takes the appearance of transparent pink bubbles. I hope that clears things up.

One _MORE_ thing: I have been thinking a lot about a gaping huge plot hole I'm surprised no one has noticed or just hasn't flamed me about. Sakura is Japanese. How is she speaking fluent English? I didn't want to demean her intelligence by making he speak in a ridiculous accent, but it's rather pis posh to 'assume' she's taken English to the point of being able to speak it fluently. I also considered a translator spell, but that seems rather a cop out. I suppose not as much of a cop out as what I've done, which is NOTHING. I wonder if it's for the best: just leaving it the way it is, and Sakura can speak English as a plot device. Suggestions?

So, in this chapter we find we have two new enemies, and without the surprise intervention of Cerobeors, would have taken her down. What more will we see of these two ner' do 'ells?


	6. We're workin' in here today!

Without further ado, owning nothing, read this:

Chapter 6: We're workin' in here today!

It was a cold day in Albania. Colder than usual, and late October Albanian nights were not something to be trifled with. There was a mansion, however, in a small town called Little Hangleton that was quite comfortably warm against the chilly breeze that blew from the mountains. In this mansion were a variety of dark cloaked men and woman, silently watching. They wore masks out of a bronzed metal in shapes that ranged from graphically grotesque to handsomely elegant. All wore masks. All save three.

The first was a man with breathtakingly red hair. It was unnatural how much like fire it looked like, his eyes were perfect inversions of his hair: deep, slate blue. His skin was pallid, and he had the general appearance of someone who didn't get too much sun. His face was emotionless.

This expression was reflected by the woman next to him. Her hair was a perfect copy of the color of the man's eyes she stood next to. Blue like the sea, blue like the sky, and her emerald eyes stared at the third man before them.

If you could call him a man...

The two that next to each other had decided he was far more snake than man.

"You failed." It was a simple, screechy hiss.

"If we had failed, we would be dead," The man replied almost sounding bored.

"I see no sorcerer girl before me," Lord Voldemort said dangerously, "Is this success? Is the lack of success what you are being paid for?"

"We are being paid to hunt down and capture a 'insignificant who has encroached on the noble plans of an elite group'," The woman replied evenly.

"Several of these factors have come under question," The man replied evenly.

"Oh?" The snake hissed, amused.

"Yes. Insignificant. This Sakura Kinomoto displayed powers that I have never seen before. A sorcerer controlling more than one one element is not uncommon. At the same time: that is unheard of. At least not for nearly a mellenia. That is not insignificant." The man continued.

"Also," The woman now continued, "Noble. Sakura Kinomoto is no older than fifteen. I felt the fear she had before we left, that of a scared little girl. That is not noble. Finally, an elite group does not attack from the shadows, and does not conceal their identities." There was a tense silence between them.

"You have not been entirely honest with us, Mr. Voldemort." The man said slowly. Again, silence.

"We haven't failed." Miame` said diplomatically, "In light of recent events, we request more time, is that acceptable?"

Voldemort smiled, it was a rare act that he reserved for equally rare occasions, like the death of enemies or the torture of 'friends'. Although he loathed neutrality, these sorcerers were... acceptable to him.

"Agreed. We will continue our arrangement. 8 million £ for a live capture, 1 million £," Voldemort hid a malicious smile, "if you are unable."

The two gave a deep bow before they vanished in flame and mist.

After several quiet moments, a woman, who almost threw herself at Voldemort with enthusiasm, "My Lord! If it pleases you, let me speak."

"As you wish, Belletrix." Lord Voldemort wasn't listening, he was two focused on other solutions for this new... problem, should any more developments occur with their sorcerer mercenaries.

"Why not let me do it!" Why not let one of your own deal with this filth?"

"Your incompetence amazes me Bellatrix," Voldemort said distractedly, "but I will answer you, nonetheless. First of all, Sorcerers posses different magic than Wizards do. This makes them immune to wards and many spells that Wizards might have put in place to stop intruders: such as Hogwarts. Also: do not forget that we are yet in hiding, which means an organized strike of Death Eaters would seem rather curious to highly skeptical Ministry,"

Voldemort answered, and many in the room snickered.

"Our stealth is what enables us. It's what gives us one more advantage over those who are filthy." He looked to his Death Eaters, "Now, I believe there is business of another order to attend to. One that is much more my concern. Nagini!" Voldemort cried out, and the slithering form of Voldemort's treasured snake climbed up around him, t hen in parseltounge, "Yes, Nagini, I can feel your hunger. I will soon satiate that thirst for blood. That of the worse kind of blood traitor. Soon, Nagini. Soon."

* * *

"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called merrily to the class as they approached, The dark boughs of the Forbidden Forest waiting behind him, and a cow carcus slung haphazardly over his back, "More sheltered. Anywho, they perfer the dark."

"What prefers the dark!" Malfoy said exasperated, but was unable to keep the panic from his voice. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Afraid?" She muttered just loud enough that he could hear her, and he shot his glance to her, and was about to say something that would have sounded a lot like 'mudblood' with a pathetic insult mixed in with it, but Hagrid interrupted.

"Ready?" Hagrid said, oblivious to the situation developing at his feet, "Well, I bin savin' a trip inter ther forest for yer fifth year," Hagrid shook his head and his swollen eyes widened, "Got somma dangerous folk livin' in de forest," Everyones eyes widened, especially Malfoy's. To Hagrid, dragons were cute and cuddly, acromantulae were best friends forever, and Griffins were 'loyal steed'. Anything Hagrid considered dangerous probably bordered on apocalyptic. Hagrid shook his head thoughtfully and continued, "Now, wha were seein today is perty rare, an I reckin I'm the only one in Britain tha's managed to train 'em."

Sakura's common sense clicked in, "How extensively do you mean by 'trained'?" She recalled Ron going on and on about Blast-Ended Skrewts, and decided the question needed asking. Monsters didn't really scare her anymore like they did years ago.

Hagrid gave Sakura a pointed look and said, "Very 'stensive, thank ya!"

"And your sure they're trained, are you?" Malfoy asked, the tinge of fear polluting his voice, "It wouldn't be the first time you've brought wild things into class."

"Ahh, but Malfoy," Hermione said sweetly, "We're not in class today. We're going to be in the forest."

Again, Malfoy was going to say something insulting but was interrupted by Hagrid and resorted to giving her an ugly sneer, "'Course they're trained!" Malfoy turned his sneer to Hagrid.

"Then what in Merlin's name happened to your face then?!"

"Min' your own business!" Hagrid shouted angrily, "Now, if yer threw askin' stupid questions, follow me!"

He trudged strait into the forest. Nobody seemed inclined to fallow. Harry glanced to Ron on his right and Hermione to his left, who sighed and nodded, while Sakura watched the three to see that they were going to do, and sure enough, the three walked boldly and a few strides behind Hagrid, Sakura fallowing close behind. The rest of the class took lead in turn.

The second Sakura stepped into the forest she could feel an ethereal presence. She shivered and visibly shook, but brushed it off, hoping nobody would have noticed. Hermione, however, had noticed.

"Are you alright?" She asked quietly.

Sakura studdied her face for a second before answering, "This forest... It's very... old. Ancient magic of the most powerful and mysterious kind resides in forests like these. I-I can feel it. Everywhere," Sakura looked around and a swift breeze flew through the trees, bringing with it stray leaves from the past fall, "I've never sensed anything quite like it, actually."

Hermione, who had quite gotten used to Sakura's 'special gifts', asked her insightfully, "Is it... evil?"

"No," Sakura said glancing around, "Magic this ancient has lost its sense of good and evil. It embraces all."

Sakura breathed deeply and continued to walk with Hermione, quickly catching up with Ron and Harry.

They walked for five minutes without consequence before a Slytherin nearly blew a tree to pieces because he 'thought he saw a werewolf'. After another two A Gryffindor stunned a rabbit, that apparently had 'extra threatening ears'. After a few more minutes people seemed to settle down, and after ten whole minutes, no more incidents occurred. The forest was now thick, and even when it had been so bright out before, the light had become dim as late twilight. No snow reached the ground here. Hagrid deposited the cow carcus on the ground randomly.

"Gather roun', gather roun'," Hagrid bellowed, "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat, but I'm gunna give'm the call anyways, 'cuz they'll like ter know it's me,"

Hagrid turned away from his students and gave two jerking glances in either direction before issuing a shrieking cry like some kind of monstrous bird. The sound echoed through the trees, and Sakura definitely believed that it had reached the ears of its intended target, and any other creatures that might be lurking in the forest. The class collectively held their breath, even Sakura (Who swore that monsters didn't scare her anymore!), could feel her pulse quickening as the anticipation rose. Years of dealing with what could possibly become a sticky situation culminated in a twitching of her right hand: ready to summon her Sealing Staff at a moments notice, consequences be damned of who saw her.

Sakura felt herself jump foolishly when Hagrid gave the shrieking cry again, and forced her heart to calm down, blaming her jumpiness on the place, which was still giving her chills. Half a minute passed, and Hagrid was just about to bellow out another cry, when Harry pointed to a shadowy space between two knarled yew trees.

Sakura felt the hairs on back of neck stand on end. The second she got over her fear of ghosts, something new had to show up. Two ghostly white orbs were slowly approaching the group. Out of the low twilight, a very angular head and skeletal body were formed revealing the form of a winged, black, horselike being. Sakura's mind went blank. She stared at the creatures as a familiar feeling of abject horror swept across her like she hadn't felt in half a decade. A slight squeak passed her throat. The rest of her: petrified, mouth slightly ajar and rigid, eyes wide and staring at the creature before her.

The skeletal horse swished its tail slightly, studying the class be fore it lowered its head and began to munch on the carcus at it's feet. Harry seemed to sigh in relief, his features relaxing considerably. Harry looked expectantly to Ron and Hermione, awaiting some sort of reaction to the monster before them.

Ron stared at him curiously, "Why doesn't he call them again?" He asked confused, and Sakura, bravely taking a quick glance around, realized that almost everyone was just as confused as Ron was. In fact, only two other people besides herself and Harry seemed to be able to see it: Neville Longbottom, who stared with wide eyes at it's swishing tail, and the jumpy Slytherin who nearly blew apart the tree, who had a similar look of distaste on his face.

"Oh! An' here comes another," Hagrid said proudly, and Sakura gave another sqeak as another black, winged horse walked to the nearby carcus and began to devour it as well, "Now, put your hands up if you can see it."

The four of them raised their hands, Sakura quite shakily, but another voice in Sakura's head cursed at her. For crying out loud, calm down! It's just a blasted winged horse! It's not dead, it's not even that scary! It's just minding it's own business! She took in a deep steadying breath and felt much better except for the random bouts of magic the Forbidden Forest regular sent through her. Damned sorcerer senses!

"Yeah... Yeah, I knew you'da be able ter, Harry," Hagrid said slowly, "An' you too, Neval, ah, and Sakura can too,"

"What exactly are we supposed to be seeing?" Malfoy said with annoyance.

"Trust me, be glad you can't!" Sakura said, totally forgetting to be mean.

In answer, Hagrid pointed to the cow carcus, and Sakura imagined what it would look like if she wasn't able too see what was eating it. Several squeaks similar to Sakura's issued out of girls mouths and there was a general 'arghh!' from the boys.

"What's doing it!?" Pavarti demanded in a terrified voice, jumping behind a nearby tree.

"What's eating it!?" A Slytherin asked.

"Thestrals," Hagrid said proudly, and Hermione just about smacked her forehead in realization, "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of em' in here, now who knows-?"

"Thestrals!" Pavarti chocked, "but there dismally unlucky! Like almost as bad as seeing a grim!"

"I'm still alive!" Harry waved over to her.

"Now now, tha's just silly superstition," Hagrid said, "They're harmless, dea' useful, they ar'. O' course, these ones don' get too much work, mosly pullin' the school car'ges twice a year, an such. Unless Dumbledores' takin a long journey an' don' want to apperate- an heres two more!"

This time when they appeared out of the brush, Sakura only felt a twinge of fear. Apparently, now that the dramatic tension had disolved, they really weren't all that scary at all.

"Now: who can tell me why some o' you can see'em and others can't?" Hagrid asked.

Hermione raised her hand.

"Go on then," Hagrid beamed.

"The only people who can see thestals," She began, "Are those who have seen and appreciate death."

Sakura's eyes grew wider as she took a glance around. It wasn't the answer that bothered her, something... else. Something-.

"Exactly right! Ten points ter Gryffindor! Now, Thestrals-"

"Hem, hem." Hermione visibly groaned.

"Yay! My favorite teacher is here!" Sakura moaned sarcasticly.

Hagrid glanced around, and, finding the source of the disturbance, greeted Professor Umbridge warmly, "Why Hello!"

"You received the note I sent," Sakura cringed, her blood already souring, as Professor Umbridge addressed Hagrid as if her were both foreign and very slow, "Saying that I would be evaluating you today?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm glad you found the place alrigh," Hagrid beamed, "As yeh can see, were doin' Thestrals today."

"I'm sorry?" said Umbridge loudly, and cupped her hand around her ear and frowning. "What did you say?"

Hagrid looked a little confused, "Er — thestrals!" he said loudly. "Yer know: big — er — winged horses!" He flapped his gigantic arms hopefully.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows at him and muttered as she made a note on her clipboard, " 'has … to … resort … to … crude … sign … language …' "Sakura squeezed her fingers together, staring strait at Hagrid and wished for everything to blow over.

"Well … anyway …" said Hagrid, turning back to the class and looking slightly flustered. "Erm … what was I sayin'?"

" 'Appears … to … have … poor … short … term … memory …' " muttered Umbridge, loudly enough for everyone to hear her. Draco Malfoy looked as though Christmas had come a month early; Sakura slammed her eyes shut, as if what she was hearing pained her. Hermione stood next to her, eyes wet, and face beet red.

"Oh yeah," said Hagrid, throwing an uneasy glance at Umbridge's clipboard, but plowing on valiantly. "Yeah, I was gonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. Yeah, so, we started off with a male an' five females. This one," he patted the first horse to have appeared, "name o' Tenebrus, he's my special favorite, firs' one born here in the forest —"

"Are you aware," Umbridge said loudly, interrupting him, "that the Ministry of Magic has classified thestrals as 'dangerous'?"

Harry's groaned softly, but Hagrid merely chuckled, "Thestrals aren' dangerous! All righ, they might take a bite outta you if yeh really annoy them —"

" 'Shows … signs … of … pleasure … at … idea … of … violence … ' " That was it, Sakura ripped her eyes opened and looked at gave a look of pure and utmost loathing reserved for few left alive on the planet. Instantly, and to everyones surprise, including Sakura 's, the clipboard burst into flames, and with such force that it knocked the startled Professor Umbridge back.

With horrible realization, Sakura realized what she had done: She had inadvertently attacked a teacher. She sucked a quick intake of breath before glancing around, a mixture of terror, embarrassment, and oddly, satisfaction washed over her. Everyone, equally stunned, did nothing to help Professor Umbridge up.

Umbridge, however, did not need helping up and she furiously jumped to her feet and squelched, "WHO DID THAT!!!" She whipped her head around, looking for guilty faces amongst the Gryffindors.

"TELL ME!" She roared, all of her mock sweetness gone in an instant.

"Was it you?" She approached Harry, a snarl that made her ugly face almost unbearable plastered onto her face, "The liar! Moving onto Hermione, "Or you!?" She screamed accusingly, "The know it all!" and then she walked strait up to Hagrid.

"You!" She roared, "You set this up, didn't you! You thought it would distract me long enough to keep your job!!" She seemed to visibly calm down once she had a 'primary suspect' and gave Hagrid a hallow stare, "Well, I'll have you know that not only will you-"

"Oh, shut up, you bakutoni!" Sakura said calmly as she stared at the disgusting woman before her, "It was me!"

There was a stunned silence. Malfoy watched with a happy smirk on his face. The Gryffindors, stared at her in silent disbelief. The cold stare was now reflected at Sakura.

"Well, this changes-"

"No, it was me!" Ron said boldly, staring strait at Umbridge with a blank expression.

Umbridge stared at Ron and flapped her mouth confused and flustered, and Hermione stared at him startled.

"No! It was me!" Harry rang out startled, as if he were catching a train about to leave without him.

"It was me!" Another Gryffindor rang out! And another and another, even Pavarti Patil, and finally Hermione seemed to get over the shock and made her own 'confession'. Eventually, all the Gryffindors in the forest had rang out in unison, even Neville.

There was a still, an ominous quiet, that gripped the forest. Even the magic of the forest, Sakura noted, seemed to hold it's breath. Umbridge was shocked, nay, appalled, at the spectacle she had witnessed. It took her almost a full minute to recover. When she did, she was... unhappy.

"You!!" She shouted, seemingly to everyone, even the Slytherins, "You- I've never-! In all my-!" She wagged a finger in front of her at the Gryffindors, "Ten points from every Gryffindor here today!" She bellowed. With ten students, that made a hundred points. There was no reaction. All the Gryffindors had given up all hope on ever winning the house cup as long as Umbridge was 'teaching'. Umbridge's scowl grew even worse before turning to Sakura, "And you! You! Fallow me!" She declared menacingly, marching right out of the forest. Sakura turned and looked at her fellow Gryffindors with a sort of scared and deep gratitude. Turning bravely, Sakura stalked out of the forest close behind Umbridge, leaving a stunned class and Hagrid.

* * *

"Well, back your bags!" Umbridge said coldly, "You'll be out of this school by morning!"

"Expelled?!" Sakura shouted, but she shouldn't have been surprised.

"Of course! You don't think I'd let you get away with attacking me, do you?"

The true consequences of her inadvertent actions came full circle now. How was Sakura supposed to continue her purpose here is she was expelled? What use would she have to the Order?

"Well! What are you waiting for! Get out of my office! Get down to your dorm-"

"And stay there until I summon you." Dumbledore's calm voice echoed through Umbridge's office.

"Ah, Dumbledore! Good! You'll be pleased to know I have stopped a dangerous threat to wizarding society from creating chaos and discord! In fact, I've just expelled her!"

"You have done nothing of the sort," Dumbledore continued.

"Wha-" Umbridge said flabbergasted, "I have just-"

"Professor," Dumbledore said testily, "It is the right of the headmaster and his or hers alone that gives the right to expel students. That is not your right. Again, Sakura, return to your dorm and wait until I summon you."

Sakura got up swiftly and walked silently out of the office, too ashamed to look at Dumbledore. Though she may not have intended what to happen to happen, she couldn't help but feel guilty for what repercussions would have to be paid for her actions.

So, silently and depressedly, she walked along the corridor and waited at the moving staircases, looking at the exact same portrait Ceroberos had said 'freaked him out'. She sighed heavily wondering what she was going to do now.

As she approached Gryffindor Tower, she heard rapid footfalls coming toward her, and she looked behind her. It was Ron, Hermione, and Harry.

"Are you okay!?"

"What happened?"

"What did she do to you?"

So, Sakura, in a low voice, explained what happened: How she had almost been expelled and Dumbledore stepped in at just the right instance to prevent it. After she had finished, everyone seemed a bit more relaxed.

"How did you do that? You know, the whole exploding clipboard thing!" Ron asked.

"Why did you do that." Hermione corrected.

"Honestly, I don't know how I did it. I just left so... angry. Angrier than I've been in years, and, well, her clip board was the first thing I looked at, and that burst into flames," She said sorrowfully. Then she gasped in realization, "The forest!" She cried, "Since I'm a sorcerer, I accidentally tapped into the ancient magic of the forest and then the magic aligned itself with my emotions and..." She looked at Harry and Hermione startled, and Ron made a quiet comical explosion sound.

"All right, things seem to be winding down here. I'm famished, and lunch started almost fifteen minutes ago! I'll die if I don't get anything to eat before dinner!"

"Dumbledore told me to wait here until he summoned me. I think I'm in enough trouble already, so I think I'm going to do just that."

"All right, how about you two?" Ron asked Harry and Hermione. Harry nodded quietly, and Hermione rolled her eyes, muttering something like 'always hungry', but also turned with Ron and Harry and left for dinner.

Sakura watched them go before turning to the portrait hole, still feeling a mix of down emotions from today's incidents. She said the password ("Morgan le Fay") and walked tiredly in, only to be greeted by a small elfish creature. He had wide, somber eyes, and wore various mismatching knitted and cloth clothing, including a tea cozy, and that wasn't even clothing at all!

"Are you the friend of my friend Mr. Harry Potter?" He asked quietly, with a trepidations, almost trembling voice.

"Y-yes?" Sakura said, concerned and slightly wary of the small being before her.

At one the creature's demeanor changed, as it smiled widely, "Then you are Miss Kinomoto!? Yes, it is true! The great Professor Dumbledore has sent for you! Please, go to his office as soon as you are able!"

Sakura nodded, feeling at ease again now that an explanation for the creatures appearance was solved. This was no doubt Dobby the House Elf.

"Where, is my-friend-Harry?" Dobby said expectantly, saying the end quickly, as if it were one word.

"You just missed him, I'm afraid," Sakura said with a slight smile. She had to give Dobby credit, his odd energy was contagious, and doing quite well cheering her up, "He's gone to lunch."

Dobby's face fell, "Oh," but his grin immediately returned, "Will you tell him hello for me."

"I will, of course," Sakura chuckled slightly, bending over and patting the elf on his shoulder.

"Oh! Thank you! I must go now! Miss Myrtle's bathroom doesn't clean itself... yet." and with a snap of his fingers, the elf vanished.

Sakura took another deep breath and prepared for a meeting she was most definitely not going to enjoy. Slipping out of the portrait frame, she came across Ginny, who was with Michael Corner. They were talking about something quiet heatedly and in terse whispers. Ginny couldn't hear much of their conversation, but could tell that it was most unpleasent. It would appear that Ginny and Michael's relatonship was on the rocks. She walked down the hall and quickly hid behind as statue, sensing peeves nearby. When he passed, shouting something particularly foul, she continued through a door and through another corridor before reaching the spiral staircase that led to the headmasters office.

There, she found that the Gargoyle leaped aaside at her approach, apparently being notified of her arrival. She allowed the stairs to take her up, rather than climbing them at the same time, trying to procrastinate her reprimand as long long as possible.

Arriving at the wooden door that allowed access to the Headmasters office beyond, Sakura winced and knocked three times, as if expect an explosion to occur the same moment.

"Please enter." She heard Dumbledore's calm voice, and when she opened the door, he was sitting at his desk, writing quietly on a piece of parchment. She closed the door behind her, and took several steps forward, but waited there apprehensively. It was exactly the same as her last visit, silver whirring instruments and a low sunlight filling the room with the yellow light of sunset. The clouds seemed to have cleared for this day only, as that the usually white winter sky had been exceptionally blue, and the sunset seemed to light the whole snowed ground on fire. It was an amazing sight, and made the already beautiful Hogwarts castle seem that much more elegant and intimidating. Sakura, however, was far too involved with her present situation to notice any of these things for very long.

"Yes, Miss Kinomoto, if you'd please, sit." He gestured with one hand, taking the parchment, placing a w \ax seal on it, tapped it four times with his wand and the parchment went zooming off, probably to the owlery. She sat on the plush chair Dumbledore had indicated.

"That," Professor Dumbledore, "Was a letter to the Board of Governors."

Sakura paled in shame. A letter to the governors could mean inly one thing: her expulsion was being passed. Hearing she had been expelled from Umbridge had been bad enough, but she had been armed against Umbridge. Her anger at the woman made it much more easier to deal with: Sakura could blame Professor Umbridge. Professor Dumbledore, however, did not grant her such a luxury. He had undoubtedly heard Umbridge's tale and agreed with her punishment.

"I-" Sakura began, a tear slipping down her cheek, "I'm sorry I failed you, professor ."

"Miss Kinomoto," Dumbledore addressed her with a curious expression on his face, and his bright blue eyes sparkling, "Do you honestly believe I'd ever expel a student without first hearing their recounting of the events?"

"But, professor, you-"

"You assume the worse, Sakura!" Dumbledore said reassuringly, "I had to cancel your expulsion immediately, or I'm sure Lucious Malfoy would have had it passed immediately. You will not be expelled on this day!"

Sakura sighed heavily in relief, suddenly exhausted from her emotions being tossed all over the place today.

"Now, if you'd be so kind, please tell me the actual events, and not the version significantly clouded by Professor Umbridge's filter."

So, quietly, Sakura recounted the trip into the forest, what had happened once Professor Umbridge became involved, and how when she had looked in her direction, Sakura somehow lit her clipboard on fire, and also her theory on how she did it.

"So, you see, I don't think I'm in danger of doing it again, so long as a repeat situation doesn't occur within the forest,"

"I'd have to agree. And you have nothing to be ashamed of. Magic is a difficult burden to bear," Dumbledore said wisely, "We're all human, and we all sometimes let our emotions get the best of us. Now," He said with a smile, "As for a punishment: Detention. With me, tonight," Sakura looked slightly confused, unsure if what he had just said made any sense in her needing punishment, but soon made sense when he quipped, "After all, how else am I going to get you out of the castle and to your first Order Meeting."

A/N:

Morgan le Fay (the current password to the Gryffindor Common), if you don't know already, is the evil enchantress in the Arthurian Legend. She is the main antagonist, and Merlin's arch-rival. While Merlin helps mankind to become self sufficient (without the need of mythic and pagan gods), Morgan le Fay hinders and holds humanity back. In Harry Potter, Morgan le Fay would be one of, if not thee, first Dark Wizard.

8 million British pounds is 15.9 million American Dollars (in July 2008). Osama Bin Laden's current bounty is 50 million America dollars, just an interesting factoid. Does anybody else sense a scam?


	7. You talk in your sleep, mate

A/N: The only thing I own is Mr. Lappy and Advent Magicka. Nothing more, and probably less. This chapter starts off rather dry, give it time. Also expect 'love talk'.

Chapter 7: You talk in your sleep, mate.

To be honest, she was surprised at the condition of Number Twelve Grimauld Place. Evidence was clear that it had undergone _major _renovations, but this wasn't apparently enough to fix Number Twelve as a whole. As she followed Professor Dumbledore into the foyer, the first thing she noticed was the stagnation. The air was stagnant, the colors were stagnant, and even the magic of the place seemed tired, abandoned. The second thing brought to her attention was the macabre decor the place had to it. Ancient manila wallpaper clung to the wall in peeling, faded strips, showcased by dark-wooded shelving and bookcases that displayed glass and silver instruments, decaying books, and other artifacts of questionable origin.

Off to her left, a staircase traveled up to floors above and down at the other end of the room was a darkened door only made apparent by the warm, yellow light that escaped underneath. Sakura stayed behind and slightly to the right of Dumbledore as he waved his wand over the area, making sure that the area was still secure. Sakura held the key tightly over her chest, just in case.

With a soft nod at no one in particular, Dumbledore lowered his wand slightly and gestured with his free hand for Sakura to follow. Together they approached the darkened door at the far end and Dumbledore opened the brass door knob. Sakura winced slightly as her eyes adjusted to the yellow light that streamed into the hallway, and then promptly followed behind Dumbledore as he walked authoritatively into the room.

Sakura quickly scanned around the room, and noticed how markedly different this room was from the foyer and hallway. It was much brighter, with several lanterns mounted along the walls at even spaces. A large candle and crystal chandelier hung over a maple dinning room table off to her left. The wooden paneled walls were scrubbed and lacquered, and the thin carpeted floor only had perceptible stains in several places. Off to her right was a large kitchen area with a dozen iron and copper pots and pans hanging over a huge oven and range, and green marbled preparation counters. A door at the far end of the kitchen most likely led to a pantry.

Sitting on the dinning room table was a group of witches and wizards who seemed to be murmuring to each other in smaller groups. There was a colored man in blue-gray robes talking with a taller, younger handsome red-head and from the expression on their faces it was about something quite somber. Next to them sat a man with somewhat wiry black hair. He had the general appearance of someone who had been starved for a long period and was now just being properly fed, from his gaunt face to his rather tattered black robes. There was, however, a degree of pleasantness about his features that made him inviting, cool even. He was talking to a red-haired wizard who bore a striking resemblance of Ron, and a fairly large woman with shorter, browner yet still red hair who nodded vigorously at several things being said. Next to them, listening carefully but not intruding was a man who too had a careworn appearance about him. He was fairly tall, with brown hair peppered with gray and severely patched brown robes. He sat next to a heart-faced woman with a nervous look about her. What most stood out about her was undoubtedly her bright sky blue hair. Across the table sat the greasy-haired bastard himself: Professor Snape. Next to him was a lanky man wearing dark tan robes, fidgeting slightly and looking about the room as if he had somewhere else to be.

Their was a round of greeting as people noticed Dumbledore's arrival, but it didn't take but a second before all eyes had fixed on Sakura. Expressions ranged from curious to Professor Snape's scowl of annoyance. Sakura shifted slightly under the gaze, suddenly feeling like she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and picked at the seam of her robe behind her back.

"Good morning, everyone," Professor Dumbledore addressed to the room at large, "I'm sure you all want an explanation as to why we have an additional guest here today. For those who don't know her, this is Sakura Kinomoto of Tomoedo, Japan. She is the sorcerer that, most of you who are present today, we had discussed in the last Order meeting," Dumbledore then turned and gave Sakura a smile that said simply he was about to open the flood gates, and open them he did! "Sakura is the latest member of the Order of the Phoenix."

The objections started loud and quickly became a dull roar.

"Albus, I don't think thats such a-"

"Professor, she's fifteen years old!-"

The lanky wizard muttered something about "sorcerers" and something that sounded a lot like "untrustworthy, the lot of them."

Dumbledore raised his hand slightly, and the ruckus calmed quickly, "Mrs. Weasley, would you care to start?"

Mrs. Weasley spoke up immediately, "Yes. Albus, Sakura is fifteen! She's only a child! It's just seems wrong of us recruit someone so young into the Order! Does she even know what she's getting herself into!?"

"She's not even a fully qualified wizard!" Added the man next to her, who could only be Mr. Weasley.

"Professor, with all due respect, we were aware that Miss Kinomoto would be keeping an eye out for Harry and his friends, but being inducted into the order? Thats a little... much, don't you think?" This was the blue-gray robed man.

Professor Dumbledore again held his hand up and looked slowly over to Sakura again, and he asked her slowly, "Sakura, Mrs. Weasley raised a good point. What exactly do you think your getting yourself into?"

Sakura answered levelly and immediately, "I'm here to help stop a crazed, sadistic megalomaniac from taking over the world, and no offense to anyone here, but from what I've seen, you guys could use a little help. Your government has turned against you, making you look to be insane, disillusioned, or just otherwise crazy."

"How, Miss Kinomoto, would you plan on helping us?" This was the unkempt man who sat next the blue haired- wait, pink haired lady.

"Well, I'll just be around."

"What do you mean?" The pink haired witch said slowly.

"I mean, I'll keep doing what I do everyday. When I see something happening thats not supposed to be, you'd better believe I'll be right there helping in any way I can. It sounds like Dumbledore already discussed me in a previous meeting? About me keeping an eye on Harry? Well, from what I've heard, Harry really doesn't need me to help him out of trouble, but I am loyal to my friends, and that means helping them when I can. There's also the issue of my job to consider."

"Your _job, _Sakura?" Professor Snape said, great difficulty placed on trying to to sound sarcastic.

"Yes, professor, my _job_." She sighed and thought about how much was appropriate to reveal to them, "A long time ago I had an ancestor who went to this school. From what I know, when he graduated he traveled to China. Here he became a master sorcerer as well. Using magic from both houses to strengthen each other, he created something... new."

"_New_?" The handsome red-head said, this was clearly one of Mr. And Mrs. Weasley's children.

"Yes _new_. Thats all the details I'm going to say. I try to keep my abilities as private as I can, at least, for as _long _as I can. Just know that he passed down these to me, and that Headmaster Dumbledore knows quite a bit about it. I hope you understand, where I'm from, magic is extremely rare, and so I'm still rather uncomfortable sharing my secrets. The 'job' that comes with this power is more of my choosing, but I like to think it my duty to stop evil whenever I encounter it."

The room murmured in understanding, slowly seeming to become more comfortable with Sakura being a member, just so long as, as Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, 'She wasn't going to be searching out Death Eaters'. In all reality, her status as Order Member seemed to be a pleasantry. After all, she didn't need Order membership to do any of the things she had told them that she'd be doing. Professor Dumbledore had already told her before they even left that a great deal of Order business would be kept from her for a time, not because of any reason on Sakura's behalf, but because he pointedly didn't need Harry to know right now, and the things that he was going to keep from her were things she'd most definitely tell Harry strait away. This sort of secrecy made Sakura rather uncomfortable, and she told Dumbledore so, as well as respectfully telling him that anything she found out she would probably tell Harry, Ron and Hermione about. He had chuckled at this and told her that he wouldn't expect anything less.

The meeting swiftly dissolved into what it was when she had first come in, a variety of small groups conversing amongst themselves, occasionally members of one group would shift over to another group. Sakura stayed with Professor Dumbledore as he brought her to the nearest group and intoduced her to them.

"Hello, I'm Remus Lupin, this is Sirius Black, and Nymphadora Tonks," With a quick glance to Nymphadora he said suddenly, "but call her by her last name or she'll probably make your fingernails grow the length of your wand."

Sakura smiled widely, "Professor Lupin! Harry has told me all about you! And Sirius Black, the natorious mass-murderer, indeed!" Harry might have let it slip the the ministries reports about Sirius were a load of dingo's kidneys and that his Godfather was perfectly innocent, well, at least of the crimes he was convicted for. The gaunt man let out a laugh that was well at ease and seemed to echo in his tired shell.

The rest of the meeting involved Sakura meeting with and introducing herself to various member of the Order while simultaneously avoiding getting anywhere near Professor Snape. It was like a game, except that if she lost, she had to look at that ugly sneer that made her want to shrink him to the size of her thumb with 'The Little', transfigure him into a gingerbread cookie (if only she knew how), and then feed him to Ceroberos. She chuckled slightly at the ridiculous fantasy.

Altogether she was introduced to Kingsley Shacklebolt, Bill Weasley, Sirius Black, Aurthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and finally the sneak thief Mundungus Fletcher, although she was told that not even a quarter of the Order was attending today's meeting.

After two hours or pleasant, but businesslike talk, Professor Dumbledore announced it was getting about time to leave and get back to the castle. She had waved to everyone goodbye and flashed a patented Sakura smile before leaving out the door into the hallway with the headmaster. She was stopped sharply again by the sharp contrast of the dinning area to the hall.

Noticing her observation, Professor Dumbledore explained, "This house used to belong to Sirius Black's mother, he pointed up the stairs to the second floor landing, where a curtained off section of the wall stood, "The Black family are well known for their love of the Dark Arts and their obsession with blood purity. Several families of Death Eaters are closely related to the late house of Black. There are quite a few exceptions, as well. Notably Sirius, and his cousin Nymphadora."

"They're cousins? They look nothing alike."

"Yes, but they do share similar intrests, as well as a passion for justice and goodness. On another note, I must say you handled yourself quite well. I think they were impressed with you."

Sakura smiled warmly as Dumbledore opened the door and led her outside where they promptly side-by-side apparated back to Hogwarts Castle Gates.

* * *

"_Impedimentia!_" Sakura felt her whole body slow to a stiff crawl as if she had been put into a vat of glue. Michael Corner nodded in accomplishment at his work. He had had extra difficulty mastering the jinx and it had taken him half a dozen tries before he got it perfect.

Sakura felt the resistance slacken and she shook herself free from the jinx.

"Alright, my turn. _Impedimentia!_" Their was a white flash from her wand tip and Michael was sent skidding back, his arms moving in slow motion as he tried to keep himself from losing balance.

"Excellent, everyone! Switch partners!" Harry yelled out. _This must be something new he was trying out, _Sakura though,_ to keep us from getting to comfortable at hexing the same person again and again. _It was the last D.A. Meeting of the year. Sakura had told Harry, Ron, and Hermione everything she had learned from the meeting, which had occurred about a week ago, but hadn't been able to find out much that they didn't know already. To be honest, the last week had all but completely exhausted her. She was determined to get caught up and, though many of her teachers had told her that they would reduce her homework because of her situation, she hadn't wanted that and so she had just as much and just as difficult homework as all the other fifth years. In defense against the dark arts, Professor Umbridge had tripled her homework, apparently in an attempt to drive Sakura away, her plans to have her expelled getting thwarted, but that only worked in classes that were hard to begin with, so basically the extra work just took more time.

Harry and Ron, meanwhile, were weighed down with quidditch practice and even though Hermione had long since finished and scored perfect marks on the exam she had to take, she didn't lower her level of studying in the least. This translated to shorter, more instense tutorials for Sakura, which didn't bother her in the least. Magic to Sakura wasn't uniform. It wasn't neat or tidy. When Sakura was forced to use magic it was usually desperate, messy, and aggressive. She remembered what Harry had said at the very first DA meeting in the Hogs Head about fighting evil in the real world, and how its nothing like being in school. Sakura knew exactly what he meant. After all, Sakura had almost been eaten by a Chinese Fireball!

Sakura was also beginning to appreciate the wizardry half of her magic. Though her Clow Cards were extremely powerful, wizardry was fast, diverse, and allowed her to do many things that her cards couldn't. 'The Hope' was the card closest to her, and it repaired any damage, magical or otherwise, but when it came to just a broken cup shattered on the floor of the Great Hall, it took only a tiny fraction of the magic to whisper a quick _repairo _rather than the huge amount of power it took to use her Hope card. Also, she could cast a wizard's spell quietly and discreetly, her Clow Cards were... not so inconspicuous. She had especially loved this fact earlier in that D.A. meeting.

Zacharius Smith had once again started to run his 'more-superior-than-thou' mouth off to Harry, and together her and Ginny had decided to take him down a notch or two... or twelve. Sakura had thrown a jinx on his shoes that would make the laces become tighter and tighter for every attempt he made at untying them. Ginny in the meantime had cursed his wand to shout rude insults at him every time he casted a spell.

"How on Earth did you get Fred and George to relinquish their Lock-Lace Jinx?" Sakura explained to her that she had to try a Feinting Fancy, a Nosebleed Nougat _and _had to agree to try out their next three edible inventions. Ginny made an ugly face and exclaimed that she was sorry for Sakura, and that she had probably been short-handed on the deal. Ginny and Sakura had then made a deal to trade spells: the Lock-Lace jinx for the Bat Boogey Jinx.

After another ten minutes of being blasted with Impediment Jinxes, Harry had called the meeting to a close. Checking the map in correspondence for Filch and Umbridge, Sakura, Hermione, and Ron left for the common room. Harry had stayed behind, saying something about straightening up before he left for the year, but then Sakura noticed Cho Chang hung back near one of the dark detecting instruments and forced herself not to roll her eyes.

Sakura had to stop by the library to get a book on magical ways of augmenting one's appearance, and Hermione needed a book on the history of house elf enslavement. After that, the three of them left for the common room. Hermione got started on homework while Sakura and Ron played a round of chess. Ron thoroughly trounced her, but they followed the game with a round of Mahjong that she beat him handily at. They traded off between rounds of chess and Mahjong for some time before Harry clambered through the portrait door looking as if her were quite lost.

"What kept you?" Ron asked, as Harry sank into the armchair next to Hermione.

Harry's mouth flopped open a couple of times. Staring unseeingly into the fire in front of him. At first Sakura was worried, he seemed almost distraught.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked, peering at him over the tip of her quill.

Harry gave a halfhearted shrug. In truth, he didn't know whether he was all right or not. "What's up?" said Ron, turning away from the game to get a clearer view of Harry. "What's happened?"

"Is it Cho?" Hermione asked in a businesslike way. "Did she corner you after the meeting?"

Numbly surprised, Harry nodded. Ron sniggered, breaking off when Hermione caught his eye.

"So — er — what did she want?" Ron asked in a mock casual voice. Sakura rolled her eyes and slapped him lightly upside the head.

"She —" Harry began, rather hoarsely; he cleared his throat and tried again. "She — er —"

"She kissed you, didn't she," Sakura stated plaintively.

Ron did a double take and spun himself around so fast that he sent Mahjong tiles scattering all over the place. Completely ignoring this he, stared at Harry avidly.

"Well," Hermione said just as plaintively.

Harry didn't say anything, he stared into the fire for a second longer before glancing over at Ron's curious / hilarious expression, Hermione's slight frown, and then finally to Sakura's slightly pitying look before slowly nodding his head.

"HA!" Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and went into a raucous peal of laughter that made several timid-looking second years over beside the window jump. A reluctant grin spread over Harry's face as he watched Ron rolling around on the hearthrug. Hermione gave Ron a look of slight disgust and returned to her homework. Sakura downright laughed at Ron's show of enthusiasm.

"Well?" Ron said finally, looking up at Harry. "How was it?"

Harry considered for a moment before answering, "Wet," he said truthfully.

Ron made a noise that might have indicated jubilation or disgust, it was hard to tell.

"Because she was crying," Harry continued heavily, instantly determining the direction Ron's mind had gone in.

"Oh," said Ron, his smile fading slightly. "Are you that bad at kissing?"

Sakura howled in mirth for half a moment, then grinned sheepishly at Hermione's glance in her direction.

"Dunno," said Harry, who looked down in wonder, "Maybe I am."

"Of course you're not," said Hermione absently, still scribbling away at her letter.

"How do you know?" said Ron in a sharp voice.

"I don't think Harry's ability to kiss is the issue at the moment" Sakura said reassuringly in Harry's direction.

"No, its because Cho spends half her time crying these days," said Hermione vaguely. "She does it at mealtimes, in the loos. All over the place."

"You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up," said Ron, grinning. This remark did not make Sakura laugh, and both her and Hermione gave Ron death glares.

"Ron," said Hermione in a dignified voice, dipping the point of her quill into her ink pot, "You are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Ron indignantly. "What sort of person cries while someone's kissing them?"

"Yeah," said Harry, slightly desperately, "who does?"

Hermione looked at the pair of them with an almost pitying expression on her face, then over to Sakura with a whithering expression as if to say 'boys!'

"Don't you understand how Cho's feeling at the moment?" she asked.

"No," said Harry and Ron together. Sakura simply listened. Hermione sighed and laid down her quill.

"Well, obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best, or if her liking Harry has anything to do with Cedric's death. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can't work out what her feelings toward Harry are anyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she's afraid she's going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's been flying so badly."

A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this speech, Sakura stared at Hermione with wide, pitying eyes. Then Ron said, "One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode."

"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have," said Hermione nastily, but she had a slight smile on her face, picking up her quill again.

"So," Ron approached Sakura quietly, "Miss Relationships. What do you think about this whole thing? You seemed pretty spot on when it came to Michael and Ginny. They don't seem to be getting along nearly as well as they used too, and well..." at this he turned to look at Hermione, "I'm still working on things... ya know."

"Oh, and your doing a splendid job," Sakura said with a tone that didn't reveal if she was serious or sarcastic, "and I'll tell you if you promise never to call me 'Miss Relationships' ever again." She smiled sweetly.

"Deal."

Sakura turned her head so she could see Harry and Hermione. Both were occupied, Hermione with her homework and Harry at staring into the fire. Then shifted her glance back to Ron, with a slightly sad smile.

"It's doomed."

"What?" Ron said with a frown.

Sakura smiled, "Ginny and Michael have more compatibility than Harry and Cho." Ron's face shifted through several emotions somewhere between relief and distress, "This is about Ginny isn't it?"

Ron looked at Sakura surprised, then looked down at her sheepishly, "She had a crush on him as soon as she was old enough to hear the tale of 'the-boy-who-lived'. I don't know when, I think sometime after the Chamber of Secrets, something about how she felt about him changed. I... I don't think she has just a silly crush on him anymore."

Sakura smiled widely at Ron, and remembered that Ron was one of those who had high potential as a Sorcerer, "You have impressive perception, Ron. More than your given credit for. Yes, I agree. I sense a good compatibility between the two."

"Have you done any of your... fortune telling... when it comes to them?"

"Well, it doesn't always work like that. Divination with the cards is simply a direct way the cards speak with me and share their knowledge of the celestial universe. I usually can't 'ask' the cards what to tell me. They tell me what they know, or what I need to hear, and thats pretty much it. I'll check it out at Divination tomorrow, though. We might be done with tarot reading, but I don't think Trelawny will mind much."

Harry and Hermione had started talking amongst themselves, and Ron and Sakura caught up on their conversation.

"-Well, I suppose it could have been worse," she said. "Are you going to see her again?"

"I'll have to, won't I?" said Harry. "We've got D.A. meetings, haven't we?"

"You know what I mean," said Hermione impatiently.

Harry said nothing, and he looked rather uncomfortable.

"Oh well," said Hermione distantly, buried in her homework once more, "you'll have plenty of opportunities to ask her. …"

"What if he doesn't want to ask her?" said Ron, who had been watching Harry with an unusually shrewd expression on his face.

"Don't be silly," said Hermione vaguely, "Harry's liked her for ages, haven't you, Harry?"

Again, Harry didn't say anything. His face wasn't doubtful of the fact, just uncomfortable. It said 'yes, I've liked her since third year, but...'. Ron turned an incredulous look to Sakura, and Sakura shrugged in non-committance. Ron turned his attention back to Hermione, who had moved on to something else.

"What're you working on now?" Ron said curiously.

"A letter."

"To who?"

"Victor."

"_Krum?_"

"How many other Viktors do we know?"

Ron said nothing, but looked disgruntled. They sat in silence for another twenty minutes, Ron finishing his Transfiguration essay with many snorts of impatience and crossings-out, Hermione writing steadily to the very end of the parchment, rolling it up carefully and sealing it, Harry staring blankly into the fire, and Sakura finishing her the third chapter on facial glamor charms.

"Well, 'night," said Hermione, yawning widely, and she set off up the girls' staircase, bringing her finished letter with her.

"Aren't you going to owl that?" Ron said with a poor attempt at sounding passive.

"It can wait until morning," She said significantly, then turned and walked the rest of the way up the stairs.

"What does she see in Krum?" Ron demanded of anyone listening.

"Well," said Harry, considering the matter, "I s'pose he's older, isn't he … and he's an international Quidditch player. …"

"Yeah, but apart from that," said Ron, sounding aggravated. "I mean he's a grouchy git, isn't he?"

"Bit grouchy, yeah," said Harry, whose thoughts were clearly still on Cho.

"He's a gentleman to her, and when they were 'together' he always put her needs first." Sakura said pointedly.

Ron jumped slightly, as if he had forgotten that she was there, which he probably did. Sakura was sitting in a chair far away from the fire, and she wasn't moving. Ron stared at her for a minute before nodding solemnly. Sakura could tell he was putting her words to good use.

"Wait. You said 'were together', as in they aren't any more?" He asked hopefully.

"Ron, Hermione and Victor Krum have never _really _been together. 'Mister Grumpy' asked Hermione out to the ball because he was impressed with her, and although he'd _like _to be more than friends with her, it's never going to happen."

"Why?" Ron asked despite himself.

"Hermione just isn't in love with him. She's a smart girl, and she's only going to give her heart to someone she truly loves." She gave Ron a significant look, and Ron nodded solemnly again. Sakura and Harry suddenly burst out laughing.

"Whats so funny?"

"If Hermione... were here... to see how hard... your studying to get her to fancy you... she'd be proud!" Harry said between spasmodic laughter.

"W-what!" Ron said indignantly, "I _do not _fancy Hermione!" Ron said loudly, and gave Sakura a pleading look.

"Shh! Ron, don't yell that too loud, you don't want her to hear you." Sakura said with mirth sparkling in her emerald eyes.

"It's no secret that you fancy her, Ron. Everyone knows, except, maybe for Hermione." Harry said, laughter still in his voice, "Especially everyone in our dorm room."

"W-what do you mean!" Ron spluttered, his face the distinct color of red.

Harry sobered just slightly before answering, "Ron: you talk in your sleep, mate."

Sakura held her breath, a huge smile plastered on her face at the comedy of it all, switching between Harry and Ron's face waiting for Ron to figure it out.

"Oh. _Oh!_" Ron said in realization, then his face shifted from understanding to abject horror, "Oh shit!" He said loudly, enough for Harry to shush him again between more bouts of laughter. Ron's horror slowly faded into an amused smile, before finally chuckling along with Harry. Sakura and Ron looked at each other, as the two came to the same conclusion: Sakura had never seen Harry this happy before, and Ron had seen it _very _seldom. Anything that made Harry this happy was worth it: even if it meant Ron had been confessing his love for Hermione to all his dorm mates.

It wasn't much longer before the three of them had laughed themselves out and had all agreed to call it a night. Sakura headed upstairs to the girl dormitory and walked in. Hermione was still awake sitting up in the bed and reading by wand light. She looked distracted. Ceroberos was sleeping soundly right next to her, snuggled against Hermione's leg, nestling it and murmuring something about chocolate.

"Something bothering you, Hermione?" Sakura asked conversationally as she changed into pink pajamas.

"No, nothing." Hermione said extremely unconvincingly, flicking her want irritatedly to provide a more light.

"Are you sure?" Sakura said patiently.

Hermione didn't say anything for a long while, staring at _Hogwarts: A History_, "It's just... someone I know is bothering me, thats all."

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, "This is about Ron, isn't it? Or Harry and Cho, perhaps?"

Hermione looked up surprised, "R-Ron?"

Sakura sighed, she was about to have a conversation with Hermione that was like the back of the coin with the one that she had had with Ron, "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Your in love with Ron, but you feel he only notices you as a friend. You've tried several methods of getting him to notice you as more than a friend: Arguing with him in hopes that he'll do something unexpected, writing to Victor for the sole purpose of making him jealous, and yet after all this you feel he still thinks of you as just a friend. Right?"

Hermione gaped at her openly.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Sakura said, genuinely confused. She hadn't done anything that she was aware of.

"Guess exactly whats going on in my head."

Sakura smiled and rolled her eyes, "Hermione. It's rather obvious," Taking a line from Harry, "In fact, I bet everyone knows your crazy about Ron, except for maybe Ron himself. Who knows, maybe you talk in your sleep."

"Talk in my sleep? God I hope not!" Hermione said with wide eyes, "Some of my dreams are rather... private."

Sakura winced genuinely and mumbled, "Trust me, I know."

"I guess Harry's bothering me, too. I mean, is it only me that sees that Cho is no good for him?"

"No, Ron and me both see this, too, and so does Harry, just give him time." Sakura smiled knowingly.

"Ron didn't seemed too chuffed about it."

"Thats because he knows that Harry's been longing for Cho Chang for years, he's trying to be supportive, and maybe sharing in Harry's victory a little bit."

Hermione smiled slightly and nodded, "I guess that makes sense," She closed her book (that she probably hadn't gotten through one page of), and rubbed Ceroberos' stomach to wake him up.

"Mmm... Big mounds of... chocolate moose..." He mumbled sleepily. Sakura and Hermione let out peels of laughter that woke Ceroberos completely.

"I need the rest of my bed, Ceroberos." Hermione said, and Ceroberos stretched largely and yawned loudly.

"Alright, nighty night." He said absent mindedly, flying clumsily off her bed and crash landing on the custom bed on top of Sakura's chest, asleep before his head hit the small pillow.

Sakura said good night and was soon asleep as well. She was snapped awake several hours later with the feeling of intense dread. Something evil was nearby. Incredible evil just a stones throw away! Something was terribly wrong. She jumped up and shook Hermione awake.

"Hermione!" She said terrified, "Hermione!"

"W-what!" She said a bit annoyed, but then seeing Sakura's face and hearing how her normally calm voice seemed to squeak with fear, she immediately realized something was wrong "Sakura, whats wrong?! Has something happened?!"

"It's Voldemort! He's in the castle,_ in this very tower!!_"

A/N: I'm back, after a LONG hiatus. I moved out of my house and have been considerably busy. I also felt uninspired with A.M. and fond this chapter EXTREMELY difficult to write. Lots of love talk, almost NO action, not a lot really happening until the VERY end (cliffy much?), so I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the chapters before it, however good you might have thought they were. A hint as to whats going on: if you crack open you copy of Order of the Phoenix and turn to this chapter (21) and you follow along what happens at this part _normally in canon _it should give you a hint as to whats happening.

Thank you to all who have R/R and, especially to fanna and Misthafalls. I found their reviews in my inbox and was thought 'Hey! I really should start that up again!'

I'm starting chapter 8... now!


	8. We’ve got to go to St Mungo’s

Chapter 8: We've got to go to St. Mungo's

Hermione's eyes went wide, she sucked up a huge breath of air and her mouth opened and closed for several seconds as her enormous mind caught up with what exactly Sakura had just told her, and what exactly that meant to the Gryffindors in the tower.

"What are we going to do!" Sakura was freaking out, to put it mildly.

"How do you know?!" Hermione's voice squeaked loudly.

"I can sense him! I know it's him!"

"We need to get everyone out of the tower!" Hermione said desperately.

"No good! He's probably in the common room right now as we speak!"

"We need a plan!"

"I know! And quick!"

Sakura and Hermione stared at each other with wide eyes for several more seconds before Sakura spoke again quickly, "I'll go!"

"What?"

"I'll go out in front and distract... it. I'll lead Voldemort away and you can go warn Professor Dumbledore!" A sudden thought occurred that chilled Sakura even further: surely professor Dumbledore would know that Voldemort was _here! _What if Voldemort had finally done what he had been unable to do since now and killed the Headmaster? She swallowed the thought quickly. They had to act now, it was a wonder Voldemort hadn't jumped into the room and killed them all already! _Unless..._

"He's going after Harry!" Sakura flushed. She jumped up and ran for the door, Hermione not far behind, then Sakura opened the door and jumped down the stairs five or six at a time and skidded to a halt at the base of the stairs.

Voldemort wasn't there at all, but what was in the common room was not much less concerning.

Harry was sitting in one of the large armchairs, he was deathly pale and had a clear sheen of sweat on all of his exposed skin, and the chest of his shirt was soaked through. When Sakura made his appearance he gave her a desperate look. There, too, on either side of the chair with looks of extreme worry on their faces was Neville and Ron, Ron had a comforting hand on his best mates shoulder. Professor McGonagall was also there, standing near Harry in front of the chair.

"What the hell is going on!" Sakura said loudly.

"Thats just what I was about to find out!" Said Professor McGonagall, then turning her attention back towards Harry and with the most soothing voice possible she said, "What is it, Potter? Where does it hurt?"

Harry looked strait at her face with a stare of horror, he looked almost demented.

"It's Ron's dad," he said, sitting up taller. "He's been attacked by a snake and it's serious, I saw it happen."

"What do you mean, you saw it happen?" said Professor McGonagall, her dark eyebrows contracting.

"I don't know. … I was asleep and then I was there. …"

"You mean you dreamed this?"

"No!" said Harry angrily. Sakura could see the frustration and desperateness in his eyes, and to think just a few hours ago he was roar vivaciously with laughter, "I was having a dream at first about something completely different, something stupid … and then this interrupted it. It was real, I didn't imagine it, Mr. Weasley was asleep on the floor and he was attacked by a gigantic snake, there was a load of blood, he collapsed, someone's got to find out where he is. …"

Professor McGonagall was gazing at him through her lopsided spectacles as though horrified at what she was seeing.

"I'm not lying, and I'm not mad!" Harry told her, his voice rising to a shout. "I tell you, I saw it happen!"

"I believe you, Potter," said Professor McGonagall curtly. "We're going to see the headmaster."

Hermione and Sakura shared a scared look, and she rushed over to Ron, gripping his arm tightly, "Oh, Ron."

Ron, for the most part, seemed to bee holding it together rather well.

"Is he alive?! Did you see if he was alive?!" Ron asked calmly, but his voice quavered acutely.

"I-I don't know!" Harry said despondently.

"Weasley, you might as well come as well," Ron nodded solemnly and prepared to leave. He gave Hermione's hand a brief squeeze before helping Harry up off the chair.

"I'm coming, too." Sakura said in a voice that made it simply fact.

"Miss Kinomoto-"

"Professor, I have an extremely bad feeling about this," Sakura whispered frantically to the professor, "Harry is my charge, remember?"

Professor McGonagall considered quickly and nodded shortly, "Alright, lets go," and the Professor and Ron lead Harry away and out the portrait frame. Neville stared silently after them.

Sakura turned quickly to Hermione, "I'll keep you informed. At least it wasn't really Voldemort."

"But you still sense him?" Hermione said worrisomely, and Sakura glanced at the still open portrait door, "It's Harry. I sense that evil presence all over Harry as if he jumped in a tar pit." Sakura spat disgustedly, before turning quickly to Neville, "Take care of Hermione," and then she rushed out of the door.

She caught up with them quickly, and followed behind Harry's short, ragged breaths.

They passed Mrs. Norris, who turned her lamp-like eyes upon them and hissed faintly, but Professor McGonagall said, "Shoo!" Mrs. Norris slunk away into the shadows. Blasted nuisance of a cat. In a few minutes they had reached the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"Fizzing Whizbee," said Professor McGonagall.

The gargoyle sprang to life and leaped aside; the wall behind it split in two to reveal a stone the staircase that was moving continuously upward like a spiral escalator. The three of them stepped onto the moving stairs; the wall closed behind them with a thud, and they were moving upward in tight circles until they reached the highly polished oak door with the brass knocker shaped like a griffin.

Though it was now well past midnight, there were voices coming from inside the room, lots of voices but oddly no presence to go with them. Sakura had enough surprises for one evening, her nerves still shot from the appearance of Lord Voldemort's presence. She held out the key and summoned the Staff of Sealing. McGonagall didn't seem surprised, but gave her a look that said simply 'we'll talk about this later.'

Professor McGonagall rapped three times with the griffin knocker, and the voices ceased abruptly as though someone had switched them all off. At first, Sakura had the crazy idea of a television, but she knew that couldn't be the case. The door opened of its own accord and Professor McGonagall led Harry and Ron inside and Sakura followed closely.

The room was dimly lit; the strange silver instruments standing on tables were silent. The portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses covering the walls were all snoozing in their frames. Behind the door, a magnificent red-and-gold bird the size of a swan dozed on its perch with its head under its wing. The Phoenix was absolutely beautiful, and if the matter was less grave, Sakura might have been able to appreciate that. There was no one but the professor in the room, though, and no obvious explanation for the voices Sakura had heard. That put Sakura a little more on edge.

"Oh, it's you, Professor McGonagall … and … _ah._"

Dumbledore was sitting in a high-backed chair behind his desk; he leaned forward into the pool of candlelight illuminating the papers laid out before him. He was wearing a magnificently embroidered purple-and-gold dressing gown over a snowy-white nightshirt, but seemed wide awake, his penetrating light-blue eyes fixed intently upon the flushed and terrified Harry.

"Something has happened, I take it for granted?"

"Professor Dumbledore, Potter has had a … well, a nightmare," said Professor McGonagall. "He says …"

"It wasn't a nightmare," said Harry quickly.

Professor McGonagall looked around at Harry, frowning slightly, "Very well, then, Potter, you tell the headmaster about it."

"I … well, I _was_ asleep. …" His eyes spoke of a clear desperation, that demanded the Headmaster understand. Sakura also noted that the professor wasn't looking directly as him, instead focusing on his fingernails as if they were more important than what Harry was saying. It made Sakura angry, she could only imagine how it made Harry feel, "But it wasn't an ordinary dream … it was real. … I saw it happen. …" He took a deep breath, "Ron's dad — Mr. Weasley — has been attacked by a giant snake."

The words echoed in the air ridiculously. There was a pause in which Dumbledore leaned back and stared meditatively at the ceiling. Ron looked from Harry to Dumbledore, his face getting almost as white as Harry's.

"How did you see this?" Dumbledore asked quietly, still not looking at Harry.

"Well … I don't know," said Harry, rather angrily, "Inside my head, I suppose —"

"You misunderstand me," said Dumbledore, still in the same calm tone, and still avoiding any kind of direct eye contact with Harry, "I mean … can you remember — er — where you were positioned as you watched this attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside the victim, or else looking down on the scene from above?"

Harry gaped at Dumbledore. It was almost as though he knew exactly what was going on, and trying to verify the prognosis.

"I was the snake," he said. "I saw it all from the snake's point of view. …"

Dumbledore turned to Sakura, "Do you know anything relating to this?"

Sakura nodded slowly, "When I awoke, at first I thought that Voldemort was in the castle with us, but when I found Harry, I realized that the presence was coming from Harry. Voldemort's magical signature is all over Harry's presence. I've never sensed anything quite like it, except with something similar with Eriol Hiiragizawa."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, and Sakura realized he was looking directly at her, and was only avoiding Harry's eyes. Something was up. Harry had looked over himself with a small groan, as if here looking for the presence so he could wipe it off, the look in his face told Sakura clearly that his skin was crawling with just the thought of being covered in... Voldemort.

"Is Arthur seriously injured?"

"_Yes,_" said Harry emphatically.

Dumbledore stood up so quickly that Harry and Sakura jumped, and addressed one of the old portraits hanging very near the ceiling.

"Everard?" he said sharply. "And you too, Dilys!"

A sallow-faced wizard with short, black bangs and an elderly witch with long silver ringlets in the frame beside him, both of whom seemed to have been in the deepest of sleeps, opened their eyes immediately.

"You were listening?" said Dumbledore.

The wizard nodded, the witch said, "Naturally."

"The man has red hair and glasses," said Dumbledore. "Everard, you will need to raise the alarm, make sure he is found by the right people —"

So that explains the voices with no presence. He had been conversing with his portraits. Both nodded and moved sideways out of their frames, but instead of emerging in neighboring pictures (as usually happened at Hogwarts), neither reappeared; one frame now contained nothing but a backdrop of dark curtain, the other a handsome leather armchair.

"Everard and Dilys were two of Hogwarts' most celebrated Heads," Dumbledore said, now sweeping around Harry, Ron, Sakura and Professor McGonagall and approaching the magnificent sleeping bird on his perch beside the door. "Their renown is such that both have portraits hanging in other important Wizarding institutions. As they are free to move between their own portraits they can tell us what may be happening elsewhere. …"

"But Mr. Weasley could be anywhere!" said Harry.

"Please sit down, all four of you," said Dumbledore, as though Harry had not spoken. "Everard and Dilys may not be back for several minutes. … Professor McGonagall, if you could draw up extra chairs …"

Professor McGonagall pulled her wand from the pocket of her dressing gown and waved it; three chairs appeared out of thin air, straight-backed and wooden, and looked depressingly uncomfortable. The four of them sat in the chairs, with Ron, Harry and Sakura staring behind them at the Headmaster. Dumbledore was now stroking Fawkes's plumed golden head with one finger. The phoenix awoke immediately. He stretched his beautiful head high and observed Dumbledore through bright, dark eyes. Sakura had quickly decided that she loved Phoenixes.

"We will need," said Dumbledore very quietly to the bird, "a warning, if you'd please."

There was a brilliant flash of fire and the phoenix had vanished.

Dumbledore then fiddled with several of his silver instruments until he had come across one that he liked and brought it over to his desk. He tapped it soundly with his wand and it began to emit puffs of various shaded green smoke in longer and longer streams until the smoke was coming out in one long stream. The smoke was odd, almost static, as if instead of smoke it was puffing out balls of green cotton, but when it hit the ceiling it cascaded just like normal smoke. It was _thick _smoke. Sakura felt a small charge of magic within the device and realized once the smoke slowly began to take a discernible shape of a green snake, complete with slithering tongue, that Dumbledore was using capnomancy: divination with smoke.

He began to mumble things to himself that Sakura couldn't quite make out, "essence divided" something or another, when the portrait named Everard returned.

"Dumbledore!"

"What news?" said Dumbledore at once.

"I yelled until someone came running," said the wizard, who was mopping his brow on the curtain behind him, "said I'd heard something moving downstairs — they weren't sure whether to believe me but went down to check — you know there are no portraits down there to watch from. Anyway, they carried him up a few minutes later. He doesn't look good, he's covered in blood, I ran along to Elfrida Cragg's portrait to get a good view as they left —"

Ron moaned slightly, and looked on the verge of tears, his body shaking slightly.

"I take it Dilys will have seen him arrive, then —"

And moments later, the silver-ringletted witch had reappeared in her picture too; she sank, coughing, into her armchair and said, "Yes, they've taken him to St. Mungo's, Dumbledore. … They carried him past under my portrait. … He looks bad. …"

"Thank you," said Dumbledore. He looked around at Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva, I need you to go and wake the other Weasley children."

"Of course. …"

Professor McGonagall got up and moved swiftly to the door; Harry and Sakura cast a sideways glances at Ron, who was now looking more terrified than ever.

"And Dumbledore — what about Molly?" said Professor McGonagall, pausing at the door.

"That will be a job for Fawkes when he has finished keeping a lookout for anybody approaching," said Dumbledore. "But she may already know … that excellent clock of hers …"

Sakura thought it was an odd thing to talk about a clock at a time like this, but it would probably make sense if she knew what they were talking about. Another thing came to mind.

"Professor?" Sakura inquired.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"I promised Hermione that I'd keep her informed, would it be okay if I sent a message to her from this office?"

"Of course?" He nodded. Dumbledore then rummaged in a cupboard behind Harry and Ron. He emerged from it carrying a blackened old kettle, which he placed carefully upon his desk. He raised his wand and murmured "_Portus_"; for a moment the kettle trembled, glowing with an odd blue light, then it quivered to a rest, as solidly black as ever.

Sakura got up, her Staff of Sealing still in her hand and pulled out a card, "Mirror." Sakura said calmly as she struck the card in front of her. The whirling winds of magic soon formed an exact copy of Sakura down to tiny wisps of brown hair that fell over her forehead.

"Go, and please inform Hermione of the situation, then return to me if you are able. If you are not, return to your card form. Hermione will keep you safe." The Sakura duplicate nodded, and marched off through the door.

Dumbledore marched over to another portrait, this time of a clever-looking wizard with a pointed beard, who had been painted wearing the Slytherin colors of green and silver and was _faking_ sleep so deeply that he could not _possibly _hear Dumbledore's voice when he attempted to rouse him.

"Phineas. _Phineas._"

The subjects of the other portraits lining the room were no longer bothering to pretend to be asleep; they were shifting around in their frames, the better to watch what was happening. When the clever-looking wizard continued to feign sleep, some of them shouted his name too.

"Phineas! _Phineas_! PHINEAS!"

He could not pretend any longer; he gave a theatrical jerk and opened his eyes wide.

"Did someone call?"

"I need you to visit your other portrait again, Phineas," said Dum­bledore. "I've got another message."

"Visit my other portrait?" said Phineas in a reedy voice, giving a long, fake yawn (his eyes traveling around the room and focusing upon Harry). "Oh no, Dumbledore, I am too tired tonight. …"

The other portraits immediately erupted into a storm of angry protests.

"Insubordination!" roared a corpulent, red-nosed wizard, brandishing his fists. "Dereliction of duty!"

"We are honor-bound to give service to the present Headmaster of Hogwarts!" cried a frail-looking old wizard, "Shame on you, Phineas!"

"Shall I persuade him, Dumbledore?" called a gimlet-eyed witch, raising an unusually thick object that looked more like a club than a wand.

"Oh, very _well," _said the wizard called Phineas, eying this wand slightly apprehensively, "though he may well have destroyed my picture by now, he's done most of the family —"

"Sirius knows not to destroy your portrait," said Dumbledore, and Harry realized immediately where he had heard Phineas's voice before: issuing from the apparently empty frame in his bedroom in Grimmauld Place. "And you'd know it if he had. You are to give him the message that Arthur Weasley has been gravely injured and that his wife, children, and Harry Potter will be arriving at his house shortly. Do you understand?"

"Arthur Weasley, injured, wife and children and Harry Potter coming to stay," recited Phineas in a bored voice. "Yes, yes … very well. …"

He sloped away into the frame of the portrait and disappeared from view at the very moment that the door opened again. Fred, George, and Ginny were ushered inside by Professor McGonagall, all three of them looking disheveled and shocked, still in their night things. Fred gave Sakura an odd look, elbowing his brother and gesturing towards her.

"We just passed you not a minute ago. How's you get here?" Fred asked.

Sakura is response held he staff up and with a slight flash, returned it to key form.

"Ah." Said George.

"Harry — what's going on?" asked Ginny, who looked frightened. "Professor McGonagall says you saw Dad hurt —"

"Your father has been injured in the course of his work for the Order of the Phoenix," said Dumbledore before Harry could speak. "He has been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am sending you back to Sirius's house, which is much more convenient for the hospital than the Burrow. You will meet your mother there."

"How're we going?" asked Fred, looking shaken. "Floo powder?"

"No," said Dumbledore, "Floo powder is not safe at the moment, the Network is being watched. You will be taking a Portkey." He indicated the old kettle lying innocently on his desk. "We are just waiting for Phineas Nigellus to report back. … I wish to be sure that the coast is clear before sending you —"

There was a small flash of flame in the very middle of the office, leaving behind a single golden feather that floated gently to the floor.

"It is Fawkes's warning," said Dumbledore, catching the feather as it fell. "She must know you're out of your beds. … Minerva, go and head her off — tell her any story —"

Professor McGonagall was gone in a swish of tartan robes.

"He says he'll be delighted," said a bored voice behind Dumbledore; the wizard called Phineas had reappeared in front of his Slytherin banner. "My great-great-grandson has always had odd taste in house guests. …" Sakura realized that what he said implicated that this was Sirius Black's great-great-grandfather, and she remembered the conversation that her and Dumbledore had about a great deal of the Blacks were stringent supporters of the dark arts. She wondered if the former Headmaster was one of the exceptions or... not.

"Come here, then," Dumbledore said to Harry and the Weasleys. "And quickly, before anyone else joins us …"

Harry and the others gathered around Dumbledore's desk.

"You have all used a Portkey before?" asked Dumbledore, and everyone but Sakura nodded. She shrugged, knowing how it worked, and each reaching out to touch some part of the blackened kettle. "Good. On the count of three then … one … two …"

It happened in a fraction of a second: In the infinitesimal pause before Dumbledore said "three," Sakura was almost bowled over as waves of an evil presence washed from Harry. Sakura gasped in shock as Harry suddenly snarled at Dumbledore, but then.

"… _three._"

There was a sudden jerking motion, and it felt like someone had put a very large suction cup over her stomach and then pulled on it. The world was moving, spinning out of control and then suddenly it was if she was being tossed out of a public establishment very forcefully and she fond herself skidding to a halt. She recovered just in time to stop Harry from careening to the ground.

"I think I prefer apparation." She mumbled.

Sakura could hear mumbling from somewhere else nearby and then suddenly:

"OUT!" the voice was clearly that of Sirius Black.

They had arrived in the gloomy basement kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. The only sources of light were the fire and one guttering candle, which illuminated the remains of a solitary supper. A house elf was disappearing through the door to the hall, looking back at them malevolently as he hitched up his loincloth; Sirius was hurrying toward them all, looking anxious. He was unshaven and still in his day clothes; there was also a slightly overpowering whiff of stale drink about him. Sakura felt her heart go out for this poor man forced into hiding.

"What's going on?" he said, stretching out a hand to help Ginny up. "Phineas Nigellus said Arthur's been badly injured —"

"Ask Harry," said Fred.

"Yeah, I want to hear this for myself," said George.

All eyes were on Harry, "It was —" Harry began, a clearly uncomfortable look on his face, "I had a — a kind of — vision. …"

And he told them all that he had seen, though he altered the story so that it sounded as though he had watched from the sidelines as the snake attacked, rather than from behind the snake's own eyes. … Ron, who was still very white, gave him a fleeting look, but did not speak. When Harry had finished, Fred, George, Sakura and Ginny continued to stare at him for a moment. Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"You did good, Harry," Ginny said quietly, "If dad is alright... then it's because of you."

Harry looked up at her timidly and gratefully.

"Is Mum here?" said Fred, turning to Sirius.

"She probably doesn't even know what's happened yet," said Sirius. "The important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore's letting Molly know now."

"We've got to go to St. Mungo's," said Ginny urgently. She looked around at her brothers; they were of course still in their pajamas. "Sirius, can you lend us cloaks or anything — ?"

"Hang on, you can't go tearing off to St. Mungo's!" said Sirius.

" 'Course we can go to St. Mungo's if we want," said Fred, with a mulish expression, "he's our dad!"

"And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?"

"What does that matter?" said George hotly.

"Voldemort is watching." Sakura said simply, and Sirius nodded.

"It matters because we don't want to draw attention to the fact that Harry is having visions of things that are happening hundreds of miles away!" said Sirius angrily. "Have you any idea what the Ministry would make of that information?"

Fred and George looked as though they could not care less what the Ministry made of anything. Ron was still white-faced and silent. Ginny said, "Somebody else could have told us. … We could have heard it somewhere other than Harry. …"

"Like who?" said Sirius impatiently. "Listen, your dad's been hurt while on duty for the Order and the circumstances are fishy enough without his children knowing about it seconds after it happened, you could seriously damage the Order's —"

"We don't care about the dumb Order!" shouted Fred.

"It's our dad dying we're talking about!" yelled George.

"Your father knew what he was getting into, and he won't thank you for messing things up for the Order!" said Sirius angrily in his turn. "This is how it is — this is why you're not in the Order — you don't understand — there are things worth dying for!"

"Easy for you to say, stuck here!" bellowed Fred. "I don't see you risking your neck!"

The little color remaining in Sirius's face drained from it.

"Fred!" Sakura said angrily, her face turning deep red "That was completely uncalled for! You attack _Voldemort, _not your _allies!_"

Fred and George shot Sakura simultaneous and identical angry looks, but Sakura put her hands on her hips and returned a glare of equal intensity.

Sirius looked for a moment as though he would quite like to hit Fred, but when he spoke, it was in a voice of determined calm. "I know it's hard, but we've all got to act as though we don't know anything yet. We've got to stay put, at least until we hear from your mother, all right?"

Fred and George still looked mutinous. Ginny, however, took a few steps over to the nearest chair and sank into it. Harry looked at Ron, who made a funny movement somewhere between a nod and shrug, and they sat down too. The twins glared at Sirius and Sakura for another minute, then took seats on either side of Ginny. Harry looked torn between whom he should be comforting: Ginny or Ron.

Together the six of them sat in relative silence drinking butterbeer that Sirius had summoned. Sakura didn't even notice that they were in the entry foyer that was ominous and unsettling. Everyone stared blankly at nothing in particular, all thoughts on something private, difficult or otherwise bothersome.

"Fawkes," Sakura murmured, half a second before the center of room burst into flame in midair, dropping a single phoenix feather and a small, but heavy piece of parchment.

"Fawkes!" Sirius said loud, and Sakura wasn't able to discern whether his voice was relieved or desperate. He snatched the parchment up quickly and his eyes began to dart over it rapidly,"That's not Dumbledore's writing — it must be a message from your mother — here —"

He thrust the letter into George's hand, who ripped it open and read aloud, "_Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum._"

George looked around the table, a deep frown etched onto his face, "Still alive …" he said slowly. "But that makes it sound …"

"He's going to be okay," Sakura said soothingly. George looked solemnly at her and nodded. Soon they had once again settled into the nasty business of waiting. No one was really able to sleep, only doze off slightly and have their weary minds yanked back into consciousness by restlessness. They sat in silence for hours.

Then, at ten past five in the morning by Ron's watch, the kitchen door swung open and Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen. She was extremely pale, but when they all turned to look at her, Fred, Ron, and Harry half-rising from their chairs, she gave a wan smile.

"He's going to be all right," she said, her voice weak with tiredness, and Sakura gave George a pat on the shoulder, "He's sleeping. We can all go and see him later. Bill's sitting with him now, he's going to take the morning off work."

Fred fell back into his chair with his hands over his face. George and Ginny got up, walked swiftly over to their mother, and hugged her. Sakura took a deep, calming breath and smiled in relief. Ron gave a very shaky laugh and downed the rest of his butterbeer in one.

"Breakfast!" said Sirius loudly and joyfully, jumping to his feet. "Where's that accursed house-elf? Kreacher! KREACHER!"

"Creature?" Sakura said curiously.

"The family's royal pain-in-the-arse house elf," Sirius explained.

"Oh, forget it, then," muttered Sirius after several moments of no response, counting the people in front of him. "So it's breakfast for — let's see — seven … Bacon and eggs, I think, and some tea, and toast —" Sirius' energy hospitable energy was contagious and soon Harry was rushing to help while Sakura and Ron set the table. Ron's mood seemed to have somewhat lightened, knowing that his father was alright and that he would see him soon.

Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into a huge hug.

"I don't know what would have happened if it hadn't been for you, Harry," she said in a muffled voice. "They might not have found Arthur for hours, and then it would have been too late, but thanks to you he's alive and Dumbledore's been able to think up a good cover story for Arthur being where he was, you've no idea what trouble he would have been in otherwise, look at poor Sturgis. …"

Harry looked downright despondent, clearly believing he didn't deserve her gratitude. She soon released him to turn to Sirius and thank him for looking after her children through the night. Sirius said that he was very pleased to have been able to help, and hoped they would all stay with him as long as Mr. Weasley was in hospital.

"Oh, Sirius, I'm so grateful. … They think he'll be there a little while and it would be wonderful to be nearer … Of course, that might mean we're here for Christmas. …"

"The more the merrier!" said Sirius with such obvious sincerity that Mrs. Weasley beamed at him, threw on an apron, and began to help with breakfast. Sakura was starting to really like Sirius Black, and it pained her to see him so lonely.

"Sirius," Harry muttered, with a distracted look on his face. "Can I have a quick word? Er — _now_?"

He walked into the rear pantry at the end of the kitchen and Sirius followed. Sakura took over at the stove, stirring up two dozen eggs in a huge metal skillet. The eggs were almost the same color as Ceroberos and with a horrible sinking sensation she realized that she had left him snoring on his bed. She hopped he wasn't too worried about her when he woke up in a few hours. Was there another way to tell him what happened and where she was? She couldn't exactly have someone deliver a message to what most everyone thought was a plush toy. She could send word with 'The Voice'... but then she'd have to steal someone's voice or use her own and wouldn't be able to talk until it returned. Sakura shrugged, and moved on. He could sense when she was in danger, and so long as she wasn't than he probably wouldn't worry too much. She paused in her flipping of the eggs to add a little salt and pepper, and increased the temperature a little with her wand.

"Ya know, your not supposed to use magic outside of school until your seventeen," Ron said from the table, "Well, wizard magic, anyway. They make a really big deal about it, you can get expelled and everything!"

Sakura looked at her wand worrisomely, and was about to say something when Sirius and Harry came back out of the pantry.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius said, "One, your in a house chalk full of wizards, and the trace used to detect if your using magic isn't very accurate, plus the Fidelius Charm on this house protects almost completely against it. They _might _know that you cast a spell somewhere not on Hogwart's grounds, but they won't know where, when, or what spell it was you cast. Not exactly the best case against you, is it?"

Sakura shook her head, giving him a slight smile and relinquished her spot beside the eggs back to Harry.

* * *

"My Lord, I approach." The room was dark, save a single white light streaming down from the ceiling onto a chair, a throne really, and the lone man that sat in it with snake-like eyes and pallid skin.

"McNair? You bring report of the Weasley head?" The cold hiss echoed loudly in the cold room.

"I do. The blood traitor was rescued promptly and taken to St. Mungo's. He is in a stable condition and is believed to make a full recovery."

If this angered Voldemort, he didn't show it. Instead, he toyed with his wand between his fingers, "What of the rest?"

"The Potter and the sorceress are there now, along with most of the Weasley clan."

"Excellent! You have done well, McNair. Fetch me the sorcerer duo. It is time."

* * *

It had been agreed that family and Harry should visit first, then the rest of them might go in afterwards. This, of course, left Sakura waiting outside the Dai Llewellyn Emergency ward with Alastor Moody and Tonks. Alastor sat quietly with a grim expression on his face, and his scarred, chiseled features almost made him look statuesque, while Tonks paced in front of her. Sakura wasn't sure if it were out of boredom, nervousness, lingering worry, or if something else entirely was on her mind

St. Mungo's was a nice, if not an altogether queer hospital. She had seen some unusual, almost comical maladies, like a man with a elephant's trunk or a family of three that had somehow become a violent shade of violet. Everything from their clothes to their hair had been changed to the same uniform color of purple.

Other injuries were far more serious. A man had apparently splinched himself so badly that they were afraid they wouldn't be able to find all the pieces in time to put him back together again. They had found a large portion of his skullcap on the rim of the Maui volcano, while two out of six of his missing fingers turned up by strange coincidence in Tomoedo. They weren't sure if he was going to make it. Sakura decided she'd never apparate ever again. Was there any form of travel in the wizarding world that she'd like?

In the meantime, she sat and waited patiently for her turn to give her well wishes to Mr. Weasley. Honestly, she was getting kind of bored and wishing she had brought a book, or _anything_ to pass the time. Almost as if on some twisted, sociopathic cue that was almost the moment Sakura sensed two _very _familiar presences appear inside of St. Mungo's. Sakura felt her eyes get wide and her breath catch, and she stood up suddenly, and Tonks promptly ran into her.

"What the devil is the matter, Sakura?" Tonks said after she had corrected her balance and gotten a good look at Sakura's startled expression.

Sakura turned to look at them and spluttered, "I got to go!"

She turned down the hall and began to walk a brisk pace down the hall, ignoring the shouts for her to come back, then down a set of stairs to the ground floor. She could hear a clamber of startled voices and shouts coming from the hallway behind the door, and as Sakura opened it she knew what she would find. Two cloaked figures were walking down the hall in a hurry, their robes a deep shade of gray, almost black. One would be woman with blue hair and green eyes named Miame, the other would be a nameless man.

They weren't alone this time. On the left walked a wolf like creature. Wolves alone were intimidating, but when it was a wolf completely on fire and with black charcoal eyes, that sent one into panic mode. The other was leopard, or a jaguar, except that like that like the wolf it was made completely of frosted ice that smoked slightly as it walked its path. It wasn't like some of the ice monsters she had fought before, it was smooth and sleek and looked like a realistic ice sculpture, except that it was walking down a hallway in St. Mungo's.

This was ridiculous, she swiftly summoned her Staff of Sealing and walked into the hallway to meet them. The hallway was fairly wide, maybe twenty fell from wall to wall, doors spread evenly along both sides. Crystal baubles on the ceiling and along the wall provided illumination. The last of the persons who had once occupied the hall was exiting hastily out of the back door.

"You guys sure know where to pick your fights," She yelled out, her eyes shining with anger, "First a school, now a hospital? What next, a retirement home!?"

Miame didn't answer, instead she said, "We underestimated you last time, it won't happen again."

"Yeah, well, neither will I!" Sakura yelled, her righteous anger coalescing into a slight yellow glow over her person as the celestial circle appeared on the ground, all 53 Cards jumped out of her robe and formed a circle around her, softly glowing and rotating.

"Arrow! Sword! Sand! Twin! Release and DISPEL!"

A/N: Sorry to leave you all on a relative cliff hanger AGAIN, but this is now eleven pages, and with the fight included, it would probably be fifteen. I'll have Chapter nine up soon, like tomorrow. So whats up with Miame and the still nameless sorcerer? You should find that out a bit more in the next chapter. Please R and R.


	9. That was bloody awesome!

A/N: I own " ". I don't know if I explained this or not, and I'm feeling too lazy to go back and look, but each of my chapters are titled with a quote from the chapter, so like chapter eight's title was "We've got to go to St. Mungo's" was a quote in Chapter 8. That might make my chapter titling make more sense to you. I personally liked the idea. Also, If you like what your reading or know someone who'd like to read it, tell people about it! Nothing quite like a people actually _reading _what the author wrote to make his/her day!

Chapter 9: That was bloody awesome!

"Arrow! Sword! Sand! Twin! Release and DISPEL!" Sakura struck the four cards in precise succession, and they exploded in light blue, yellow, white, and tan magic and swirled around Sakura, and in just a moment, there was two Sakuras, both wielding a thin sword in one hand and a wand in the other, with very fine sand swirling around them in a storm, plus the blue clad form of an archer standing behind Sakura and the doppleganger.

The two Sakura's held their ground, waiting for Miame and her counterpart to make the next move. At the slightest gesture, both the elemental beasts waiting by their side growled loudly and leaped in to attack. They galloped a few steps before jumping at the Sakuras.

Sakura and 'The Twin' made doppleganger gestured with their wand hand and instantly the sand swirling around them shot off two impressive columns of sand, which struck the beasts midair and plowed them both into the side walls. The beasts flopped painfully to the ground.

"_Stupify!_" Sakura one and two had both pointed their wands at the respective targets and a red jolt of light went sailing at their opponents, forcing them to dodge out of the way, then with a loud cry the Sakuras lifted their swords high and charged at their unbalance opponents, crying 'Stupify!' and shooting off any hex that came to mind.

The two cloaked sorcerers were just barely able to summon swords made of the element they controlled when Sakuras came crashing down on them. Both Sakuras were firing off spells while simultaneously parrying and thrusting with their sword, and 'The Sand' wasn't making their life much easier as that a great deal of the hallway was lightly dusted with the stuff and the card would shift the sand under their feet, throwing them off balance and leaving them vulnerable, or 'The Sand' would just downright shoot of columns of sand an attack them outright. Finally, 'The Arrow' would pull back on its bow and a single energy arrow would appear, nocked in its string. Then it would shoot the luminescent arrow and a dozen arrows would blow off of it, like an arrow shot gun. Miame had already been hit by one, and though the arrows didn't piece like normal arrows, they burned, caused a lot of pain, and drained you of your magic.

The cloaked man, blocking another attack that was far too vicious to be delivered by a fifteen year old girl, reached up and touched his amulet, "Fires of creation! Hear my call! Aid me now in my struggle and RELEASE! Sacred Fire!" Miame turned and gasped.

"Sacred Fire!?" She said, backing away from one of Sakura's sword chops.

"It's necessary!"

Suddenly the Sakura's felt themselves being blow backward by a powerful magic wind that pushed her back along with the sand on the floor. A magic crest had appeared on the floor underneath the cloaked man similar to the one that appeared beneath Sakura whenever she summoned her staff. Four columns of red fire rose off the floor, corresponding to four glyphs on the sigil and then the columns moved in and collided with the man at center. The Sakura's were stunned, and though Sakura couldn't see Miame's face, she knew that she was staring at the man.

The Sakura pair stood back and regrouped next to eachother, wondering what was going to happen next, and then as suddenly as the raging inferno appeared, it collapsed. What was left surprised Sakura. The man at the center now had blood red robes on, instead of the gray ones. They looked to be made of a very light, flowing material, like silk or rayon, and were layered and decorated in various symbols of fire, they looked regal, almost royal. The talisman that had been around his neck was gone now. Instead he held a staff similar to Sakura's except it was differently decorated, being largely gold instead of pink, and the red ruby that had been the focal point of his amulet was now the christened head of his staff. Also, the cloak of his was down, and Sakura could his face clearly. He had blood red hair, almost identical to the color of his robes, but his eyes were intensely blue, not like slate or cobalt but deep sea blue, almost the same color as Miame's eyes. His face wasn't pale, but a very light, fleshy color. His expression, like Miame's, struck her as someone not evil, but not necessarily good, either.

The unnamed man didn't leave Sakura a second longer for her to contemplate how this new change might complicate things for her when her raised his staff and his hand, and instantly a blue-hot flame arched between the head off the staff and his opened palm, and with a grunt the fire blasted its way at the Sakura's. The two of them ducked, and then had to roll out of the way as that the elemental beasts had returned to the fight. One of the Sakuras swiped down at the ice beast with her sword, but the beast cleanly dodged it. The other Sakura started back and another dozen arrows blasted from behind her, traveling at the fire sorcerer.

The sorcerer calmly raised his staff and red lightning blasted off of it, intercepting and destroying each and every arrow, then ice sorcerer touched her talisman and declared, "Ice of generation, freeze that which hinders us!" a burst of cold magic shot off her talisman and struck the sanded ground, freezing almost all of it. In addition to her new problems, Sakura could feel her magic ebbing away as she was forced to hold up 'The Twin's rather draining magic.

"Why do you guys do this?" The Sakuras said, backing away, their swords returning to card form. Then they simultaneously pulled out two new cards, so that both Sakuras held the same two cards

"For the money, mostly." The man answered, "We're mercenaries." He said simply, throwing his staff at her and another rather impressive fireball whipped at Sakura.

"Shield! Thunder! RELEASE! Don't hold back!" The fireball struck a white translucent barrier that reflected the fireball to the ground. Off of Sakuras' Staffs, two bolts of lightning blasted into each other and merged, creating the giant thunder beast, and not missing a beat it reared back, opened its mouth and roared! The entire hallway was filled with powerful lightning magic that was impossible to didge.

Both Miame and her counterpart, and their summoned beasts were throw back from the force of the magic, but Sakura wasn't done yet! The twin Sakura's pulled out another two cards, striking them simultaneously, she declared, "Fiery! Freeze! Release and DISPEL!" The two cards exploded at the end of her staff, red fire swirling after Miame and icy magic going after the nameless fire sorcerer, not taking a spirit form, but staying as their elemental form.

First Fiery and Freeze crashed onto the summoned beasts and they exploded into fiery stardust and tiny shards of ice, then the two essences of fire and ice jumped after their respective opponents, plowing headlong into them. The two mercenary sorcerers found themselves falling backward, and Miame struck her head against the wall, crying out, "Zachary!" she fell unconscious, her gray robes charred and live flames dancing on parts of her clothing.

This was the first time she saw the man's expression change, at first he looked horrified, as 'The Fiery' stood in sentinel over her limp form. Then her turned to the icy mass of magic, getting ready to plow into him again when he yelled out with a strangled anger that matched a rage on his face, "Enough!" and then he raised his staff violently and fiery exploded around him, a column red, orange, and yellow burst of his staff and struck the icy mass attacking him, 'The Freeze' instantly returned to double-card form and zipped back Sakura. Then he blasted three fireballs at 'The Fiery', which didn't hurt Fiery at all, in fact making it stronger, but it knocked the fire essence back a good ten feet. He then turned his wand on Sakura, raising it high he yelled, "Deflect this! Ultimate Sacred-"

"_Expelliarmus!_" Harry Potter had just entered the hallway behind Zachary, the fire sorcerer! There was a slight flash of light, and Zachary was struck in the back, his staff flying out of his hand and clambering on the floor behind him. Zachary glowed for an instant, then his robes returned to their original state, except his hood was still down. At the same time, the staff also glowed and returned to its original state as an amulet. Zachary whirled around to face his new attacker.

"_Stupify!_" Harry yelled, the red jet passing just over Zachary's shoulder as he dodged and rolled towards Miame. He grabbed a hold of her, and reached out his hand. Before Sakura or Harry could react, the amulet soared to Zachary, and as if it were a portkey, the second he touched it he and Miame vanished in whirl of flame.

Sakura and Harry let out a sigh of relief, Harry lowered his wand and Sakura merged back into one person, pocketing her wand. She turned to her summoned cards and said a "great work!" while reaching out and the five remaining cards returned to card form and stacked themselves onto her hand.

The hallway was a mess: tapestries and informational posters burned and torn, plaster from the walls and ceiling on the floor, but Sakura had almost no energy left. She hated to do this, but she was going to have to leave her mess for someone else.

"Thanks a lot, Harry! You saved me!" Sakura said, turning to him.

"No problem, but we should probably leave. The aurors will be here soon, and if were the only ones left in this room when they get here, I have a feeling they're not going to believe that two sorcerers attacked you, especially where _I'm _involved," Together he and Sakura _repairo-ed _what they could and then they heard rapidly falling footsteps coming towards them. The two ran to the end of the hall, but when Sakura was about to open the door she realized that people were coming from this side too!

"What are we going to do?" Harry said, only a hint of worry in his voice.

Sakura worked quickly and instinctively. She was tired, but she was going to have to use a little more magic. She summoned her staff and faced down the hall, "Lock! Release!" A small keyed lock shot out of the card and struck the door. No one was getting into this room, unless they had a magic key that could open any lock. This would buy them time.

"What did that do?"

"I locked the doors."

"What about _alohamora_?"

"I don't think it's powerful enough to break the magic."

Sakura faced Harry and began to think. After a minute of trying to form a plan amidst the loud yells of the people banging on the door and the shouts of a_lohamora _she smiled slightly, "Alight, I've got it. It's serious magic, but about the only option we've got."

"What are you going to do?"

"We're going through the wall." She turned and nodded at the door.

"What!?" Harry said incredulously.

"Alright," Sakura said, ignoring his question, "I have practically no energy left, so we're going to need to do this quickly. Please hold my hand and keep up!" Sakura said nicely, but still with haste. Harry pocketed his wand and held Sakura's hand firmly. They got as close to the door as they possibly could when Sakura summoned a card to her hand, then struck it shouting, "Time!" The effect was immediate, the room became instantly quiet, except for Harry and Sakura's accelerated breathing. The world also seemed to be... off. Something was just not normal about the place, and Harry was just about to question Sakura about what exactly she had done when she said, "Okay, now the tricky part." She summoned out another card and struck it while shouting, "Through!" Then the moment they both of them felt a kind of fuzziness come over their bodies, Sakura walked through the door, pulling Harry with her. They passed right through the door and even through the half-dozen aurors on the other side, which Harry noted were perfectly frozen in place. The whole hall was frozen in Time, and Harry realized what exactly it was the time card did.

Sakura remembered a time when 'The Through' terrified her, in fact to be honest, she was still afraid of it. The whole idea of getting stuck in the middle of a wall or person for that matter scared her to death, on a whole different league than ghosts. She pulled Harry into a nearby empty room, again through a locked door, and summoned 'The Lock' off the door, returning it to her pocket. She sat down, very tiredly, before returning both 'The Time' and 'The Through' to her hand. She sighed exhaustedly as the noises of the world returned and the shouts of aurors in the next room could be heard clearly, now someone shouted in jubilee as the door opened easily.

Harry was looking down at her as if he didn't know what to say, but then he settled on something and said, "Hey Sakura?"

"Hmm?" She said tiredly, trying desperately to wake herself up,.

"That was bloody awesome! You just stopped time and walked through two solid doors and half a dozen people!"

Sakura smiled appreciatively and said, "I know. After six years of having these cards I still get a thrill out of using them." She settled back, allowing herself to relax.

"Are you going to be okay, Sakura?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute. I just used two of the top draining cards at the same time, after a battle no less," And the chair she sat in was rather comfortable, too. She could fall asleep here easily, but she could sleep later, right now they needed to get back to the Dai Llewellyn Ward.

"How'd you know to come and find me?" Sakura asked curiously.

"When I came out and you weren't there, I asked about you, and Tonks told me about how you ran off. I knew right then something was up and I came after you."

Sakura nodded, "Thanks again," Then after a minute she added, "How is he?"

"Fine, for now. His wounds wont close properly, though. They think the snake's venom has a property that keeps wounds opened, but they seem pretty confident that they'll find a fix for that soon."

"Sounds pretty nasty."

"Yeah."

The two were silent for another minute, and Harry sat down next to her.

"Your not actually going to beat yourself up over this, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your not actually going to blame something that you had absolutely no control over?"

Harry was silent for a long time.

"It's my fault."

"Ha!" Sakura said dispassionately, "Voldemort just won."

That caused harry to jump slightly, not out of fear of the name, but from what she just said, "What?!"

"Harry," Sakura opened her eyes and looked at him sadly, "He's messing with your head. I don't know _how, _but I do know _why._ He wants to break you, he doesn't want to fight him, when its a whole lot easier when you fight yourself. Everytime you blame yourself for something _he's _done, than he wins a little. You become one less person he has to fight, or you make yourself that much weaker, that much easier to defeat."

"You don't understand! In the dream _I was the snake_! I-"

"So?" Sakura said softly, with a sweet smile, "How does that make it your fault? Did you go put on the snake suit and then go off and start gnawing on poor Mr. Weasley?"

Harry couldn't help himself: he chuckled when he visualized this.

"No? I didn't think so. It wasn't _you, _Harry. You may have _seen _what was happening when it was happening, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have happened if it didn't. Thats the line, right there. If you didn't see what you saw, five liters of Mr. Weasley's blood would have poured out of his massive injuries and he would be dead, and all his children would left without a father and Mrs. Weasley without a husband." She had tried to be as graphic as possible to sink her point in, and it worked. Harry tuned slightly green and nodded.

"I guess your right-"

"Ah! No guessing!" Sakura said sweetly, "I _am _right."

Harry chuckled, clearly cheered up after their talk, "Okay, okay. Sheesh, you _are _right. Your so _right_, I swear you've been hanging around Hermione _way_ too much."

Sakura smiled cutely and then said "Okay! I think I'm ready!" She got up and unbolted the door, the two of them walked up the stairs and back down the hall to the ward. She had only been gone twenty minutes or so, and Tonks and Moody were still sitting where she left them.

"-I heard something strange is happening near the visitors entrance," Tonks said to Moody, "A whole team of aurors was brought in just a minute ago to check things out!" Moody wasn't listening to her however, his attention was focused behind her at Sakura, who had one arm around Harry for support.

"I found her." Harry said simply.

Tonks turned and said, "Oh good, well – What the hell happened to you Sakura!?"

Sakura realized that she was, once again, sporting evidence of recently having been in a fight. Her robes were burned severely in several places, her arms were scratched and cut in several places, and there was a nice little nick across her left cheek that she hadn't even noticed until now and realized that it stung quite badly.

"Oh, this!? Hahaha!" She said slightly nervously, then turned serious, "I-was-just-in-fight-with-two-sorcerers-who-wanted-to-kidnap-me-and-take-me-to-Voldemort-for-blood-money,-and-probably-Harry-as-well.-We-tore-up-the-hallway-downstairs-pretty-badly,-but-Harry-sort-of-saved-me-and-we-escaped-the-half-dozen-aurors-that-showed-up-to-investigate." She explained in one breathe, and taking a deep breath she finished, "And thats pretty much what happened!" She said with a wide smile.

"What!?" Tonks said, both her and Moody leaping up from their chair.

"Oh, come on! I'm not going to repe-" she swaggered badly as unconsciousness threatened to take her.

"Is she alright?" Moody said.

"She's just exhausted." Harry explained.

"What about the sorcerers?"

"They've left."

"They won't bother us here again. I think I hurt one of them pretty badly." Sakura added, and realized she felt badly for Miame. Her injuries didn't seem life threatening, but Sakura wasn't a doctor. She really actually hoped that she would be okay.

"What is that thing in Sakura's hand?" Tonks asked.

"That," Sakura said, returning her staff back into its key form in flash of light, "Is part of the powers that I'm not sharing right now. I, however, like you Tonks, and if I didn't feel like the world was about to drop from under my feet, I'd explain it to you, but-" Sakura didn't get to finish her sentence. The blackness of unconsciousness finally consumed her.

* * *

Sakura awoke in hospital bed, and she shot up to a sitting position. She whirled her glance around and realized she must be in the Dai Llewellyn ward, because Mr. Weasley was resting in a bed right next to hers. She was also not wearing hospital robes, but simply clean, black ones. She checked her arms and face and realized her superficial wounds had all been healed with magic. She checked her persons: cards, key and wand all in place. Then she noticed that Harry and Ginny were sitting over by Mr. Weasley. Ginny was sound asleep, partly leaning against Harry. Harry wasn't asleep, though. He was staring off into space with that depressed look back on her face, and Sakura cursed silently to herself. _Damn it! _She thought, _right when I think I've cheered him up..._

Sakura called for him, and Harry snapped his attention to her, he came over to her, gently removing Ginny from off his shoulder, "What happened Harry?"

"You passed out, they set you up with fresh robes and healed your cuts. Said you'd be fine with some rest, so they set you in a bed here. Had trouble explaining the Sakura Cards, but oh well. That was about two hours ago. How are you doing?"

"Still a little weak, yet oddly refreshed." She said.

"They gave you a pepper-up potion, too. I forgot." He added.

"Ahh, that makes sense." Harry stared off to the side, looking rather guilty about something before he turned back to her and said, "We're going to leave back for Grimmauld Place shortly. We we're all sort of waiting for you to wake up?"

"Okay," she said, looking over Harry, clearly trying to find out what the matter that was wrong with him, she opened her mouth to ask, but he was already out the door. Half an hour later they were riding the subway, or as they called it in Britain, the underground. The trip was uneventful, and she had no complaints except that the old man sitting next her kept bumping into her whenever the train would jostle.

When they had finally reached Grimmauld, Sakura was travel wearied, but that didn't stop her from pressuring Ron for half on hour on why Harry was all Mopey McEmo again. At first, she started it off lightly, then seeing that Ron wasn't getting what she was asking, she asked him directly. He told her that she'd have to take it up for him, Sakura told him that Harry was avoiding speaking with her altogether. Ron admitted that he was hiding from everyone, but he countered with "He needs his space, and he'll figure it out on his own." Sakura continued putting on the pressure, going in for the kill with her point of "You hate it when the adults won't tell you anything, so why are you doing the same thing to me?"

"Oh, all right, fine. You didn't find out from me, though!"

Sakura nodded vigorously.

"We overheard Mad-Eye Moody talking to some other Order members," Ironic, Sakura thought, and for a minute she was resentful of her status of being a 'limited access' Order member.

"What about?"

"They were talking about Harry, and what it means that he's seeing stuff like this."

"Yeah?"

"They think he... might be... getting possessed by Voldemort."

Sakura's eyebrows rose,"Oh," and then she remembered what she had sensed. It was as if Harry had been inundated in Voldemort's presence. It was possible, likely even.

"Harry kinda, well, he got upset. Stormed away." Ron finished lamely.

"Well, do you guys know anything about being possessed?"

"Erm. No. Wait! Ginny does!"

"Thats right," Sakura said remembering, "Tom Riddle. No one could possibly know better what Harry's going through than her. Not Dumbledore and certainly not Moody."

Soon, Hermione had arrived, bringing Ceroberos and 'The Mirror' with her. Hermione looked like she was about to say something when Ceroberos interrupted her.

"What on Earth happened Sakura!" The Guardian beast forgot altogether to be incognito the second he saw Sakura, much to Ginny's astonishment, and Sakura gave her an 'I'll explain later' look, "First I wake up and you were gone! No one knew what happened to you! That Umbridge lady came and went through your stuff! It wasn't until way later I found out you had been taken to St. Mungo's with the Weasley family. Then I felt that you were in danger! Was it the sorcerers again? Sakura!?"

"Yes, it was the sorcerers again, but I defeated them with a bit of help from Harry."

"Four-eyes helped you out?" Ceroberos said doubtfully, and Sakura laughed at Kero's unusual habit of thinking up insulting nicknames for people he actually liked.

"Yes, Kero, but you've revealed your presence to someone who doesn't know about Sakura Cards, and their guardian beasts, so if you'll excuse me I have to now explain to Ginny, while simultaneously explaining to Hermione what happened, whats happening and then form a plan to get Harry out of his depression yet again."

So Sakura did just that, first she explained in detail just what exactly Ceroberos was, and what came with the whole package. Ginny didn't seem too surprised. She knew Sakura was a sorcerer and that that meant she had powers wizards didn't, but just didn't know any details. Then she explained to Hermione exactly what happened at St. Mungo's including the sordid details of how she had been attacked again by the sorcerer mercenaries Zachary and Miame. This prompted another explanation to Ginny about the first attack. Ginny was surprised about this, mainly because she had read the wards on Hogwarts Castle were virtually impregnable. Then, together, Sakura, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione focused their attention on something else. Ginny agreed to talk with Harry about being possessed if he'd listen to her ("He'll listen to you," Ron said, "Might have to _imperio _him, but he'll listen."), then they set the plan in motion.

Mrs. Weasley was going to come into the room in just a moment with sandwiches, in fact Sakura could sense her approaching now, and Hermione would go up to where Harry was moping and drag him down to eat. There, the four of them would tell Harry just what was what, and force him to talk to them. Ron grudgingly agreed with the plan, but he said he was provisionally against forcing Harry to talk about anything he didn't want to.

The plan was working splendidly, and before Harry knew it, he was in the room with a large plate of sandwiches and a group of people of had just sprung a trap.

"I came on the Knight Bus," said Hermione airily, pulling off her jacket before Harry had time to speak. Sakura couldn't help but smile devilishly, "Dumbledore told me what had happened first thing this morning, but I had to wait for term to end officially before setting off. Umbridge is already livid that you lot disappeared right under her nose, even though Dumbledore told her Mr. Weasley was in St. Mungo's, and he'd given you all permission to visit. So …"

She sat down next to Ginny, and the three girls and Ron looked up at Harry.

"How're you feeling?" asked Hermione.

"Fine," said Harry stiffly. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't lie, Harry," she said impatiently. "Ron, Ginny, and Sakura say you've been hiding from everyone since you got back from St. Mungo's."

"They do, do they?" said Harry, glaring at Ron and Ginny then to Sakura. Ron looked down at his feet but Ginny and Sakura seemed quite unabashed.

"Well, you have!" Ginny said. "And you won't look at any of us!"

"It's you lot who won't look at me!" said Harry angrily.

"Maybe you're taking it in turns to look and keep missing each other," suggested Hermione, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Very funny," snapped Harry, turning away.

"It's hard to look at someone when their hiding and you can't see them," Sakura said plaintively.

"Oh, stop feeling all misunderstood," said Hermione sharply. "Look, the others have told me what you overheard last night on the Extendable Ears —"

"Yeah?" growled Harry, his hands deep in his pockets as he watched the snow now falling thickly outside. "All been talking about me, have you? Well, I'm getting used to it. …"

"Shut up, Harry," Sakura said politely, "Your ranting."

"We wanted to talk _to you,_ Harry," said Ginny, "but as you've been hiding ever since we got back —"

"I didn't want anyone to talk to me," said Harry, who's face was getting redder and redder.

"Well, that was a bit stupid of you," said Ginny angrily, "seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels."

Harry remained quite still as the impact of these words hit him. Then he turned on the spot to face her.

"I forgot," he said.

"Lucky you," said Ginny coolly, and she smiled broadly. Sakura really liked Ginny. What she said instantly switched attention away from Harry's problems and back to reality.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, and he meant it. "So … so do you think I'm being possessed, then?"

"Well, can you remember everything you've been doing?" Ginny asked. "Are there big blank periods where you don't know what you've been up to?"

Harry took a moment to think.

"No," he said slowly.

"Then You-Know-Who hasn't ever possessed you," said Ginny simply. "When he did it to me, I couldn't remember what I'd been doing for hours at a time. I'd find myself somewhere and not know how I got there."

Sakura sighed in relief. It was good knowing that at least his paranoia was simply that: _paranoia._

"Harry, you've had these dreams before," Hermione said. "You had flashes of what Voldemort was up to last year." Sakura raised her eyebrows. This was new. Sakura was under the impression it had been the first time.

"This was different," said Harry, shaking his head. "I was inside that snake. It was like I _was_ the snake. … What if Voldemort somehow transported me to London — ?"

"One day," said Hermione, sounding thoroughly exasperated, "you'll read _Hogwarts, A History,_ and perhaps that will remind you that you can't Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts. Even Voldemort couldn't just make you fly out of your dormitory, Harry."

"You didn't leave your bed, mate," said Ron. "I saw you thrashing around in your sleep about a minute before we could wake you up. …"

Harry nodded slowly, and stared silently at the floor.

"Now, please, Harry. Come back to Earth and remember what we talked about: stop blaming yourself for things you have no power over."

Harry looked startled at Ginny, turning slightly green again. He was obviously reliving the conversation in him mind, and he nodded weakly. Sakura then got up and walked over to him, slapping him solidly on the back of the head.

"Ow! Hey, Oy!"

"And if you start talking like that again I'll have 'The Sweet' coat everything you eat with sugar for a week!"

Harry chuckled guiltily, and Sakura smiled at him warmly. Ginny promptly sat up, and crossed her arms. _Uh oh,_ Sakura thought, _I'd better explain how much I'm _not_ interested in Harry._

Harry looked much lighter and began humming along with Sirius as he tramped past their door toward Buckbeak's room, singing "God Rest Ye Merry, Hippogriffs" at the top of his voice. He walked out of the door looking a lot lighter and much happier than Sakura head had ever seen her.

"Hey, Sirius!? Going to check on Buckbeak?-"

"Well," Hermione said happily, "That worked splendidly!" She got up and went to leave, "Come-on Ron, you and me have Potions homework to work on, 'cuz I know _you_ didn't do it."

Ron moaned, but left with her with a similar spring to his step.

Sakura looked to Ginny and smiled at her, "I have to agree with Hermione, that went very well! You did great with that whole 'Lucky You' comment you made."

Sakura got up to leave, when Ginny said in a hurried voice, "Sakura, are you-"

"At all interested in a romantic relationship with Harry Potter?" Sakura said, with a warm smile still on her face, she turned to the door and said, "He is kinda cute," than turned back to Ginny who shifted uncomfortably, "but no. I am do not like Harry any more than a friend, no more than Hermione. You see, I'm already taken. So, you don't have to worry about me stealing your man."

Sakura jumped slightly, and her face turned beat red faster than the flip of a coin, and it reminded Sakura so much of Ginny's brother she laughed, "I- Harry, I mean- He- I'm with Michael-!"

Sakura gave Ginny a pathetic smile and shook her head slightly, saying simply, "No your not."

Ginny spluttered again.

Sakura smiled and sighed, "You look at him for long periods of time when you think no one is watching. I see a longing on your face at those times that theres simply no denying. I see you staring off into space and I know your thinking of him. There's a particular smile you have saved up, just for Harry, and certainly _not_ for Michael Corner. Really the only thing that could possibly make it more obvious would be fore you to march in the common room in parade banners declaring your feelings for him. In fact, if I were a doctor, I'd say you have all the symptoms of being in love." It reminded her of so much of Rika Sasaki and her most beloved teacher, the way she used to stare at Sensei Yoshiyuki for the entire period, and with a twinge she realized she hadn't seen Rika for almost two years.

Ginny sat there silently, with her mouth gaping, before crying desperately, "_What am I going to do?_ I mean, I do. I love him terribly, but he hardly knows I exist! I- I... don't know what to do..." Ginny looked absolutely lost as she let her guard down to Sakura, and Sakura felt her heart hurt for Ginny as a single tear fell from her face.

Sakura smiled cheerfully, "Nothing! You're doing fine. I know he's being dense, but you'll see. Soon enough. I'll help you, even."

"You will?" Ginny said startled.

"Well, normally I'd never mess with other people's romantic affairs, but for you," Sakura put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'll do what I can."

"T-thank you." Ginny said, and suddenly Sakura found Ginny hugging her tightly.

* * *

Sirius was a changed man. The closer and closer Christmas came, the happier he seemed to become. He was barely recognizable from that gaunt, hollow man that he was when she first met him. A smile rarely left his face, and he sung Christmas carols, rubbing the top of Sakura's head as he'd pass her in the hall, and once even grabbing a startled Mrs. Weasley and giving her a twirl as he walked through the kitchen putting up golden baubles. His mood was positively infectious, making Harry happier than Sakura had ever seen him. The downright creepiness of Grimmauld place just couldn't keep the laughter and shouts, and Mrs. Black was being properly shut up by 'The Silent', so nothing was putting a stop to their good mood. The decorations ranged from a tasteful mistletoe above the kitchen door to an outrageous Christmas tree decorated with live fairies.

Sakura was packing the last of her things. She was going home to Japan for the rest of the Christmas Holiday.

"Ready?" Mrs. Weasley, who would accompany her portkey, asked.

"Sure am!"

There was nothing that could possibly bring her down, or at least nothing she thought.

A/N: Yes, I'm an American, though anyone from across that big pond called the Atlantic probably knew that strait away. Which is kind of ironic if you think about it: I'm an _American male_ writing about a _girl_ from _Japan_, going to school of magic in _Scotland_. I've never been a girl, or to Japan or Scotland.

Complaint #2: Ginny and Harry end up together in the end. I'm sorry If I just ruined that for you, but the spoiler statute of limitations ended on December 31. I actually really like this fact, but my complaint is this: The pairing is crack. Harry's relationship with Ginny is completely unfounded. In HBP, Harry seems to just kind of get turned onto her, and I think that it should have been more set up than 'Harry likes Ginny now, ya got a problem with that?'. Things here are going to be different. Thats all I'm saying. I mean, some people (not me) knew Ron and Hermione were going to end up together when Hermione said 'ya got dirt on your face' in book one (I actually thought H/Hr till about book 3, but thats because JKR makes it pretty obvious from then out).


	10. I'm fighting in a war

A/N: I own NOTHING!

This is it! If you noticed I've been completely neglecting ALL the CCS crew except for Sakura in the most absolute way and _that_ is for one simple reason: I am very afraid I won't be able to write their characters, but, as I said before, this is it: I'm nine chapters in an I can't neglect them any longer. They are a part of this universe, too, and I have plans for them, mostly Tomoyo, Eriol, and Li (sorry Touya and Yokito, but for now I got no plot for you, though after this chapter I'll see how I feel. That was very cryptic, I know.). What can we expect from our favorite CCS characters? Similar things of how I've tried to portray Sakura: Tomoyo will still be fairly quiet, yet quirky. Li will be the strong and silent type, with slight tenancies towards aggression (which have rubbed off on Sakura a little), and Eriol will still be that mysterious enigma, but with the exception that there all a bit older and wiser, they've matured. For our purposes Tomoyo is 15, Eriol is 16 (45), and Li is 16.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: I can no longer ignore the language barrier issue. All members of the household are fluent in English and Japanese, while Syaoran is fluent in English, Latin, Japanese, several forms of Chinese and possibly several other native Asian languages (The Li's are just ridiculous this way *smirk*).

Without any further ado:

Chapter 10: I'm fighting in a war

Sakura was at her front door, standing next to a pleasantly smiling Mrs. Weasley, and Ceroberos was floating on her other side.

Mrs. Weasley had magicked trunk down to palm size and Sakura had it as well as several other belongings in a rucksack over her shoulder. She wouldn't need to worry about having to un-magic it, because here she was free to use wizardry as she saw fit. Japan had no Ministry of Magic, per say, because the wizarding population was simply nonexistent here. The other houses of magic that were more prominent (namely sorcerers, monks, and shaman) held a somewhat isolationist policy. They kept to their small groups, or their clans in the case of sorcerers.

The Li clan was by far the most prominent of all the Asian sorcerer clans, but several others, like the Jiang clan based in Beijing and the Takahashi based in Osaka, were also ancient and well established. These clans ran their own affairs with no national government intervention. Their acolytes were taught privately, as Sakura had been by Li, Eriol, and several of Li's mentors. Although Sakura had to admit she greatly preferred the Hogwarts method of teaching over the grueling hours she spent hovering over ancient tomes by lamplight, written in _Chinese_ no less.

Sakura had sent an owl the day she found out when she was going to be returning to Tomoedo, and she learned from the reply that everyone who could make it would be here today for a little homecoming party. She was practicably bouncing on her toe's in titillation. She opened the door, walking in and inviting Mrs. Weasley inside, which she acquiesced, stepping inside and looking about the entry hall happily.

"I'm home!" She said loudly, taking in a deep breath of fresh, cool air that restored her senses and reminded her of how long she had been away. There was a wonderful tranquil feeling that was always associated with one coming home after a long time away, and though her stay at Grimmauld Place was comfortable, she didn't fool herself that she enjoyed being inundated in the dilapidated but decidedly dark magic that clung to the place like disease. She preferred the familiar feel of polished wood floors, clean tiles, and fresh colored walls over decaying dark artifacts, peeling vomit colored wallpaper, and under lit hallways any day.

"Over here, Sakura!" She heard Touya yell from the living room. Sakura promptly began to walk to the living room, gesturing for Mrs. Weasley to follow and Ceroberos floated close behind. She turned the corner and gasped hugely, her mouth opened in a smile. Tomoyo was finishing hanging up a banner that read "Welcome Home Sakura!" over a table arranged with delectable sweets and appetizers and a large bowl of punch. Touya, her father, and Yokito were all standing in a small group, they looked like they had been talking before. Even Naoko and Chiharu were there, standing over by the chair Tomoyo was standing on. Lastly, Syaoran and Meilin was nearest to the exit, standing with small smiles and staring at Sakura.

"Welcome home!" They all shouted at once, and Sakura could hear Mrs. Weasley chuckling softly behind her. Sakura was overtaken, and she ran up to person nearest to her: Syaoran. She was only slightly surprised when he picked her up and spun her around. Sakura laughed gleefully and they kissed passionately briefly, before reality fell on them and they realized they were kissing in front of practically half of all the people they knew. Sakura and Syaoran stared at each other, and their faces turned beet red. Sakura chanced a glance behind Syaoran and observed a mix of amused and uncomfortable grins, with the exception of Touya, who just scowled. Even Mrs. Weasley, who tutted quietly, had a smirk on her face.

Syaoran, who hadn't dare looked behind him yet, said, "Tomoyo has her newest camera fixed on us, doesn't she?"

"Of course," Sakura said, surprised her voice didn't crack from the mortification.

"So," Syaoran said slowly, "How are we going to do this?"

"With dignity, and pretend that nothing out of the ordinary happened."

"Sounds pretty good to me." He said lightly, and Sakura immediately jumped to the next person.

"Meilin!" She said enthusiastically, and embraced her, "It's good to see you again! You don't visit nearly enough!"

With that practically everyone in the room went into hysterics, and continued conversing in their small groups as Sakura made her way around the room.

"How is Hong Kong?"

"Wet." She said dryly, "England?"

Sakura chuckled, "Wet, too, I'm afraid. At least eight inches of snow."

"Sheesh!" Meilin said, making a face.

"And what of this school that Eriol's been raving about?" Syaoran said.

"It's been... amazing!" Sakura said in wonder, but quickly sobered, "but, you two, me, Tomoyo, Eriol, and Ceroberos and Yue need to talk privately and soon, but first we should enjoy the party."

"What, did something come up?" Syaoran said, him and Meilin looking more than a little concerned.

"Yeah," She chuckled at the understatement of the century, "You could say that." Giving a pained expression to Mrs. Weasley, who frowned. Sakura had been in regular contact with Syaoran and the rest of family but had kept silent about the dangers she had been in, or the war she had thrown her lot in.

"Meiling, Syaoran, this is Mrs. Weasley. She's the mother of Ronald, the boy I told you about in my letter?"

"Ah." Syaoran said, bowing politely, "Pleased to meet you! Ron sounds like a... nice guy."

"Nice to meet you." She said, and gave Syaoran a similar bow.

"Mrs. Weasley, this is Syaoran Li and Meilin Li. Syaoran is heir of the Li Corporation and dynasty, and obviously," she said blushing, "my boyfriend. This is Meilin, his cousin and one of my best friends."

The four of the chatted idly for a minute before she excused herself and moved on to Yokito, Touya and her dad.

"That was quite that spectacle you showed there. Not trying to eat the brat, were you, monster?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at Touya, but didn't try to stomp on his foot because her father, Mrs. Weasley and Yokito were there and would see.

"How is England, Sakura?" Yokito said. His quiet speech was another breath of fresh air that reminded Sakura firmly of home.

"Awesome! Yokito, Touya, and Dad, this is Mrs. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley this is my brother Touya, his boyfriend Yokito, and my Dad, Professor Fujitaka Kinomoto."

"Nice to meet you all. Professor? What do you teach?"

"Archeology."

"Exciting!"

Sakura left Mrs. Weasley to talk while she visited Naoko, Tomoyo, and Chiharu, "Tomoyo!" The two embraced briefly, "Naoko! Chiharu! How are you?! How is Takashi, Chiharu?!"

Chiharu smiled warmly, "Takashi and Naoko are working on a fantasy novel!"

"Yeah?"

Naoko nodded, and Chiharu continued, "It's a really good read! You'd be surprised the kind of stuff Takashi's overactive imagination can come up with!"

"Hey!" Naoko said quietly, swatting Chiharu softly, "It's not _all _Takashi, you know," The four of them laughed at this, and picked up cups of punch.

"What's it about?" Sakura asked.

"Well, its about a girl who fights ghosts with her magical powers, but-"

"Knowing Takashi, nothing is quite as it seems." Sakura said knowingly, and Naoko smiled and nodded.

"So how's England?" Chiharu asked.

"Wizard school!" Naoko said dreamily, and Sakura jumped slightly. She always seemed to forget that almost all of her friends knew her secret. It had made her feel kind of foolish for not telling them in the beginning. She had expected them to make fun of her, or ridicule her, or be afraid of her, but after she was _forced _to tell them, almost nothing between them changed. Sakura was quite relieved, and she didn't realize just how much energy and concentration she had been putting into keeping the secret.

"It's... well, amazing just doesn't seem to be a good enough word for it!" She told them about her adventures with Ron, Harry, and Hermione, trying with some difficulty to leave out words like "war", "death", "Voldemort", and phrases like "almost got killed" and "evil bakutoni of a teacher!" and "I really want to cause serious harm to Draco Malfoy". She realized with a sigh that she was starting _another _secret between her friends, but she wanted to tell her closest friends and Syaoran first.

"Sakura," she turned, it was Mrs. Weasley, "Thank you for your hospitality, but I must return to England. After all, a house full of food doesn't prepare itself, you know! I'll be back on New Year's Day to pick you up, have a good vacation!"

Sakura bid the kindly woman farewell and then mingled with her family and friends for another hour or so, before the party slowly began to disband. When Chiharu and Naoko left, Sakura grabbed Yokito, Meilin, Li, and Ceroberos and slipped out onto the small back yard with the excuse that she was going to play some yard games. Thankfully, Touya had to work an hour earlier. She had decided that it would be best if Touya didn't know about what she was doing in England.

"I contacted Eriol, he'll be here any second now."

"Where's he coming from?"

"Teleporting from his estate in England. So, whats wrong, Sakura? You sounded quite urgent."

"Yes, the matter is urgent, but we'll wait for Eriol. Yokito," Sakura turned and gave him a soft hug, "I need you to do me a favor and _not _tell Touya about what your about to learn through Yue."

Yokito closed his eyes in a big smile, "Just like I haven't told him that your life has been in grave danger twice?"

"What-!" Sakura said to Yokito, while Syaoran said it to Sakura simultaneously. Tomoyo and Meilin simply stared at Sakura with wide eyes.

"Yue can sense when your endanger, too, Sakura."

"Ahh," She smiled at her own forgetfulness.

"What does Yue mean by 'grave danger'?"

Sakura smiled uncomfortably, almost in a grimace, "When Eriol gets here, I'll expl-"

"Hello Sakura! Hello my cute little descendant!" Eriol was walking around the house, "Ah! I see the whole group is here! This must be important!"

"It is!" Sakura broke from Yokito, and asked politely, "Sorry, Yokito, but we really need Yue right now."

Yokito nodded slowly with his trademark spacy smile and in an instant white wings were wrapped around him and in the next moment, the tall form of Yue was standing next to Sakura.

Sakura stood in front of the group of five assembled before her, all waiting anxiously for an explanation, with the exception of Yue, who remained stoic as ever, and Eriol who waited patiently with a slight smile on his face.

"So, do you want the quick version, or the long version?" she said uncomfortably.

"How about both?" Eriol said, "Why don't you start with the short version and go from there?"

"Okay." Sakura said, her eyes larger than they should be, and she took a big swallow, gathering her courage, "I'm fighting in a war."

"WHAT!" Syaoran, Meilin, and Tomoyo said all at once, Ceroberos simply winced, his expression clearly saying 'not going easy on them, are you'.

So Sakura explained to them about the wizarding world and how they were in a war against an evil that had just been awoken several months ago, a man named Voldemort, the very same man whom the three of them sensed that day seven and half months ago. She told them that after seeing their world, and meeting the key players, she had decided that she would join this fight, and she had been made member a group dedicated to defeating Voldemort once and for all.

She told them about Harry, and his friends Ron and Hermione, how he had lost most of his childhood to this madman, and how he had been fighting him since he was eleven years old. She told them about the stupid Umbridge woman, and about Lupin, and Fred and Geroge and dreams with snakes and poor Mr. Weasley. She poured everything about the last month and a half out to the group in front of her. After ten minutes of explaining she took a very deep breath and let it out slow. It was nice to vent her problems.

"Sakura," Syaoran said slowly, almost sadly, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm telling you now because I wanted to tell you in person."

"Sakura, you can't be serious about fighting in... in a war?" he said still slowly, disbelieving.

"Syaoran," Sakura said simpathetically, knowing it would effect him worst of all, and them Tomoyo, but she would figure things out with her next, "We are sorcerers, and I am the Mistress of the Clow Cards. You and me both know that its my duty to use my abilities to fight evil, and right now Voldemort is probably the greatest form of evil on the planet. Honestly, It's a miracle that they've held out this long, let alone beat him the first time he was here."

"Yes," he said, grudgingly, then came to full height, "Your right, but as Syaoran Li, it is my duty to protect you, and more than that, you know I love you and don't want you in harms way." Sakura felt herself melt, after four years this man still couldn't say that he loved her without blushing like a completely adorable fool, "So, I should come back with you?"

Sakura stopped for a second, her mouth opening, "I don't know, Syaoran. The ministry repealed almost all of the educational provisions that Dumbledore has made over his career, including the exchange program. The only reason I'm still there is because someone with Dumbledore on the Wizengamot managed the articles being repealed to be grandfathered in, so it doesn't affect me. It would be difficult."

At this, Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked to see Eriol standing next to her smiling at her and Syaoran, "Lets not worry about that right now, Syaoran, I'll see what tinkering I can do." And Sakura realized just how serious the situation was when Eriol referred to Syaoran by first name.

Sakura then turned to Tomoyo and Meilin, "What about you, Tomoyo how do you feel about all this."

"Actually," She said, with a smile, "I think I'm okay with this, but I've never wished I could do magic more than now, if just that it meant _I _could go back with you and capture your latest adventure on video!" She sighed breathily, that dreamy look going onto her face. Sakura smiled, _some things never change. Thank goodness! "_Will you teach me, Eriol?"

"Sure" He said, almost as if it were a conversation of no consequence.

"Teach her magic, you can do that?" Meilin said, skeptically.

"Well, sort of. I can teach her to use Druidic Magic. Have you noticed, Sakura?"

"Noticed what?" Tomoyo said, excitement building, after all she had been completely joking.

"Well, you have no magic, but you have excellent perception. There's been many times over the years that you've noticed people coming long before anyone else has, you've _felt _things that none of us have, and can see things from a different perspective than anyone else-"

"Not to mention that you have a knack for sensing people's true feelings," Syaoran said, pulling Sakura close to him, "Of which I'm _very_ grateful for." Tomoyo giggled.

"All of these things add up to a high potential for Druidic magic," Eriol explained, "Druids have little magic of their own, but they are so in tuned with the world around them that can use the magic of _places, _the very magic that is put into exsistance when something is created, or the natural magic that exist in everything."

"I-I'm really going to learn magic!?!" Tomoyo said in an uncharacteristic shriek.

"I was saving this for your birthday, but yes, your going to learn magic."

Tomoyo jumped over to him and wrapped her arms around him, "Thank you!"

The blush on Eriol's face didn't escape Sakura.

"What about me!" Meilin said, trying not to look hurt. The fact that she was the one person in a family of sorcerers who couldn't do magic was an old and painful wound, "Can you teach me Druidic magic?"

"Sorry, Meilin" He said, "Don't count yourself out yet, though. I sense great things from you, I just haven't figured it out yet." Meilin looked appeased by this, buy Sakura wasn't done yet.

"There's more," Sakura said, and instantly composure swept across the group, "Voldemort has hired two mercenaries to deliver me personally to him. Two _sorcerer _mercenaries."

Eyes went wide as she revealed this fact.

"They're powerful, too. On two separate occasions they almost defeated me. I would have lost iff something unexpected hadn't turned the tide, first Ceroberos appeared, then Harry Potter."

"They almost beat _you_? I mean, Sakura, your the most powerful sorcerer in half a millennium!" Syaoran said.

"I know, I know. I couldn't- I mean I didn't want to-"

"You didn't want to kill them." Tomoyo said plainly and Sakura shook her head.

"I mean, I've never k-killed anyone before," Sakura said, turning slightly green, "and I can sense good in them. In fact, I sense almost no evil at all, only... a troubled life, perhaps."

"It's a lot to think about," Syaoran said.

"Sakura," Meilin said sympathetically, "I know it's going to be hard for you, especially you... but you are in a war. It's pretty likely... that you'll have to take another human life in order to stay alive. You're going to have to deal with that fact, and sooner rather than later."

"I know," she said sadly, "but not these two. Not Miame and Zachary. I don't know what it is, but... I don't know... It won't be them... I will not murder them."

* * *

Zachary Trenton was freaking out. He was sitting in a chair lightly padded chair that did nothing to comfort him. The wooden door opened that was next to him opened and he jumped up.

"Is she alright?"

The man who had come out of the door had kind blue eyes and about a weeks worth of growth on his chin, he was in a blue scrub with a white apron, clearly a doctor.

"She'll be fine, just a moderate concussion and some scrapes and burns," Zachary sighed in relief, "Are you going to tell me how she got these injuries, or are should I get the NYPD and file a report?"

"Of course," Zachary said without pretense, "My sister and me are sorcerers. We were in Great Britain fighting another sorcerer and we she got injured!"

The doctor, who had heard many queer stories in his day, but nothing quite as far fetched as this, simply stared at Zachary with an opened mouth.

"As you can see," Zachary said emphatically, "Telling the truth doesn't get me far, usually. So here's where we do one of two things, you can make up some cock n' bull story and we can pay you for services rendered, or when my sister is recovered we can just disappear as if we never were here at all."

At this the doctor finally lost it, "Sorcerers?" He was laughing rather hard. He hadn't heard such a good joke in a long time, and _boy _was it ever a good one. _Magic _of all things, "So in other words: 'No, sir, I'm not going to tell you. Yes, you should go call the NYPD.' I'll go make the call now, then." He said, getting up.

"Can I visit her, then?" Zachary sighed. This is why Zachary hadn't paid a single bill relating to medical expenses in over five years. The police always wanted to know, and they were usually far two smart for their own good, so any stories he made up weren't good enough. They saw through lies, and would try to lock him in a mental institution for the truth.

He opened the door slowly and stepped in. His sister was beautiful, it wasn't a fact that escaped him. Even there, lying on the hospital bed, breathing slowly and bandages on her arms and a couple of Band Aids on her face, she was a truly beautiful woman. Her skin was pale, and her hair blue, and her eyes a shocking shade of impossible emerald. She didn't deserve this, and it certainly wasn't his dream for her. He didn't want her to go off looking for targets and collecting on bounties (which could be almost as dangerous). He wanted his little nineteen year-old sister to find someone special, settle down, live out a happy, successful and full live that was as beautiful as she is. That had always been his wish for her, but apparently what she wanted now was more like what he wanted for himself.

His story was simple and sad, just like he was: They had grown up impossibly poor, and far too fast. Their parents farm couldn't support them, so they left to New York City, the city of wealth and dreams. Zachary often wondered if New York was called 'The Big Apple' because their was enough for everyone to have a bite, plenty of pie for everyone to have a piece of it. Instead, he found that the apple was rotten, and anyone who haddn't brought lunch with them and was forced to eat the apple simply died. His mother became diseased, and soon she left the three of them. He didn't like to think of his kindly mother, so righteous even to steal medication for herself, dying like that. Dying in a world that didn't deserve people like her.

His father worked odd jobs, trying to support them. He would steal food and supplies if he couldn't cut it. They all worked. It was seamless, almost stable. Then he was gone. It was that simple. He went to work one day and never returned. There was dozens of things that could have happened to him, none better than any of the others. He could have been caught stealing, got involved with one of the local gangs, or simply left them alone. The last option was alien to him. His father wasn't perfect. He was a thief and not nearly as kind and loving as his mother, especially after her death, but he was as good a father as any and he wouldn't just abandon them. That was when him and his sister had brown hair.

It was pathetic to him how he could divide his life in half by hair color.

So after the third day and still nothing, they left. They took what they could carry inn their packs and left for good. They wanted to leave the city, but the filthy streets held onto them. They couldn't leave without money, and they couldn't make money here. After all, employment opportunities for two street urchins were undesirable at best, non-existent at worst. They were on their last legs, no food, no where to stay, things were bad. Thats when they met Mr. Yama.

They had hidden out behind his shop in an ally, waiting for sleep to consume their tired bodies, when they were attacked by a street gang. It could have been a band of street bums like him and his sister, looking for any food they could steal off of them. Mr. Yama stepped out of the back of shop, holding a staff and told them if they valued their lives, then they'd leave now. They ran off, laughing at the crazy old man, waving his stick at them. Little did they know just how much danger they could have been in.

What Mr. Yama next would stay with Zachary for his entire life. He reached out and, with the hand that wasn't holding the staff, reached down and said, "Get your bum off the street, son. Your meant to do much greater things." Zachary didn't remember taking his hand.

Together, the three of them lived together. It was, without a doubt, the best time of his life. Mr. Yama was impossibly honest. He didn't faulter, nor beat around the bush when he told them about magic, and that they were, in fact, sorcerers. That he would be teaching them how to use their magic.

They stayed there, and trained for three years. He taught them everything, from mathematics to world culture. Then one day he told them one day that he had something important to tell them. It was in his shop of curiosities, that he told them that it was prophesied that the two of them should have his most precious possessions. It was that day that he gave them the Sentinel Stones. They were two stones he knew very little about, only that it would give them extraordinary abilities if they were truly the ones that were the ones meant to own them.

They took the two amulets and everything changed.

He was shaken out of his reverie by a slight moan as his sister shook herself awake.

"Zachary?" She said.

"I'm here, are you feeling better?" He asked quietly.

"Where are we?"

"St. Marsis Hospital on Staten Island. You've been injured, a concussion. Nothing too major."

She was quiet for a moment, "We're not too far from Mr. Yama's shop. We should go visit him when we leave."

"We should, but I think we'd better put off the visit until we've finished what we set out to do."

"Okay," Miame said tiredly, "Any news?"

"A bit, actually. The bad kind, too."

"Yeah?"

"We've been had. Voldemort doesn't have that kind of money and he's been lying to us completely."

She was quiet again, before responding, "That _is _bad."

"Theres more. The information he told us, about how she was connected with the evil that we're supposed to help defeat?"

"Yeah?"

"We've been fighting in the wrong side. I just got word from the oracle in Siberia. Voldemort is the evil we should we helping destroy, not Sakura!"

"This is really bad!" Miame said, sitting up more alert.

The two stared at each other for a long time before Miame said disparagingly, "What have we done?"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I hope it helps explain a lot about the two 'villains' Miame and Zachary.

Yomoyo with _magic? _Your either cheering or sneering at this idea. If your cheering, then your with me, and you like the idea of Sakura's best friend there with her. I always loved Tomoyo as a character and want to see more of her. Also, Sakura says that if I keep her from her friend too much longer she's going to sick Ceroberos on me. If your sneering than I say: "Don't worry! It's going to work just fine! (I hope!)". Tomoyo's powers are going to be fitting of her. She will not be powerful like Sakura, Eriol, or Dumbledore, but just powerful to make a difference and to make an impression, and if thats still not good enough, than take consolation in the fact that she wont get her powers for a LONG time, like maybe not even in this story! It was a hard decision giving her magic.

For anyone who doesn't know, NYPD stands for New York Police Department. My shout-out and respect to all men and women who wear a uniform.


	11. This Whole Idea of War

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you SOOO MUCH for those who reviewed this past week or so! I the course of two weeks you've doubled the amount of reviews I've had in half a year (10 to 20!) thats huge for me and I thank you all! It pushes me to write more and eventually finish this story! THANK YOU THANK YOU! Again, this is my first ever fan fiction, and I want to give a shout out to anyone whose ever written anything: I know how it feels to get reviews and how medicating that feeling is!

VERY IMPORTANT: In this chapter, I'm doing something bold and experimentive. It's something I've never seen in another CCS fanfiction, and I hope you enjoy it! If it flops, don't hesitate to tell me via review or PM. If I get enough negative response, I'll quietly see what I can do to simply edit it out, since it's not hugely relative to the plot. I'll discus this experiment on a end A/N.

Also, In every version of Tomoyo I've seen she either has very dark violet hair or black hair. In this I went with violet because 1) I prefer the pictures of her with the violet hair, and 2) I don't know what her canon hair color is and was unable to find it with only light research (I'm lazy).

Chapter 11: This whole idea of war.

"Here she is, as promised," Miame intoned as Zachary dropped the very dead body of Sakura Kinomoto on the ground. Three of the four people standing on either side of Voldemort took a step back. Zachary noticed this and pondered: greed was the disease of all mankind, that and the quest for power, which ultimately is rooted back to greed. There are seldom few people on this world immune to it. Zachary hadn't escaped this fact. After all, he was a mercenary: a bounty hunter, and though he tied his love for money to his childhood, where he hadn't a penny to his name, he knew it for what it was: plain, simple, human greed. Most people had no love for death, no love for causing pain and torture. It could be taught: the ability to tolerate the act of murder, but seldom few actually come to _enjoy _it.

So, Zachary knew something about his black cloaked audience today: most of them were here for money and power. Two of them, including the Dark Lord, relished in the pain and suffering of others.

"She is dead?" The Dark Lord hissed slowly, almost disappointed. Miame figured that he probably wanted to torture her to insanity, leaving only the broken mind of a child after they had picked clean any information they possibly could, but Miame could only speculate on how the twisted mind before her worked. She felt entirely disgusted that they hadn't managed to suss out who and what Voldemort was long before this who transaction got started, but she'd berate herself later. Right now, they needed their plan to succeed, and that meant that she needed to concentrate on the task at hand. Convincing the Dark Lord that the body on the floor was in fact the corpse of Sakura Kinomoto and not a flesh golem the two of them had made using ancient rituals.

The ploy was convincing: the body was burned severely, cut an scratched and had several visibly lethal stab wounds in the abdomen chest area. When they had seen what they had almost caused, Zachary had run to puke and Miame had sat down and cried for a good half a hour. She still couldn't get the cold, green eyes un-bored out of the back of her eyes. Perhaps they did _too _good a job.

"Yes, she put up too much fight. That, and the burns on her body that finally finished her off were from a backfired spell. Really, she killed herself." Somehow, Miame kept her resolve and her voice didn't crack. She felt the edges of her mental barriers being tested. He was trying to read their minds, but only casually. This was to be expected.

"She is a disgusting sight, is she not?" Voldemort hissed slowly, brandishing his wand at her.

Miame couldn't say anything, because if she opened her mouth it would be either a squeak or she would start to scream obscenities at Voldemort that would make any ally cat native proud, so she was glad when her brother intoned, "She is nothing. She disgusts us no more than any of you or ourselves. A means to an end."

Her brother was amazing. She knew that he would like nothing better than to vaporize Voldemort and that stupid little throne he sat on, but he kept his emotions firmly in check.

"Ah, yes. A means to an end," He said silkily, "Perhaps we have a common interest? Perhaps you could further help out our means to get your end? You crave power and money anymore than any other man, no?"

"Go on." Zachary intoned.

"Surely, anyone who can kill a filthy mudblood girl as you have can help us in our quest to rid the world of the rest of them? You are regal sorcerers! Surely you see these non-magical _muggles _as the plague they are to us all?" Voldemort hissed out, taking a pause, "Join us. Join our ranks and help us rid the world of this infestation once and for all."

Zachary was losing patience. He _really _wanted to kill all of them, and he could feel his emotions loosing their control. So he didn't even give a polite pause for consideration, only told Voldemort, "I'm afraid, Voldemort, that in no uncertain terms are our goals remotely similar. We wish for our money, and we wish to leave."

There was pregnant silence, then Voldemort whispered, "I see," than he shouted, "_Crucio!"._

Nothing happened, but that was because the wand had been trained on the fake corpse of Sakura Kinomoto.

"Than we shall pay you our debt of 250,000 pounds, and you shall go on your way."

Zachary rolled his eyes, "I hope your memory fails you: we agreed on 1 million pounds should we bring her back dead."

"Ah, yes, well, I have modified this agreement of ours, seeing as that is all I will pay you. I have no motivation to pay you any more. You will not join my ranks, nor can you kill me without my Death Eaters killing you first. Voldemort levitated a suitcase over to Miame, who caught the handle, "Take what is yours and leave."

Zachary and Miame lowered their hoods, smiling at the stupidity of the Dark Lord.

"You have been betrayed by your own stupidity."

Voldemort tensed, raising his wand at the two sorcerers, and a shout rang out as he took two steps forward, "How dare you mock the Dark Lord! I'll have-"

The male was silenced by Miame snapping her fingers into the air. It was an impossibly loud snap, to come from such slender fingers. At that same moment, the dead body on ground transformed rapidly into a vaguely humanoid mass of mangled, tumorous and horribly disfigured flesh. The new creature had hollow red eyes and a dumb expression on its face. Its opened mouth was disturbingly long, as long as an arm, and it made a dead moan, like a zombie.

"This is a flesh golem." Zachary explained, "They feed off of Dark Magic and turn it against the user. Do you like it, _Lord _Voldemort? You'll be seeing a lot of them lately. Everyday, one for every pound you have shorted me, ten of them will appear in your garden. They will attack you and your Death Eaters until the Golem has been destroyed. Consider it a parting gift from me, Miame and you humanity, wherever you last left it. Know only that I would kill you myself if the celestial universe would allow it."

At that, the room was filled with the sounds of curses filling the air, but they hit nothing but the flash of flame and the receding mists of two long gone travelers. Then the curses stopped, and they all stared momentarily at the flesh golem before them.

Suddenly the golem exploded in shower of green and pink goo, covering everyone in and including the room with sticky, smelly goop.

Voldemort recovered from the shock half a second later, standing up in a terrible fury he shouted, "I WANT THEM ALL DEAD!!!"

Voldemort was so furious he turned to the man who had let the sorcerers into the chamber and pointed his wand at him and shouted out a spell that none of his death eaters had heard before. The man who the spell had been directed out found his body crumbing apart at the joints until he was a pile of very dead body segments.

_Revenge!_ Voldemort thought, _Oh, yes, I will have my revenge for being made a fool of! But for now there is a more pressing matter I must attend to!_

"Send a whole regiment of Death Eaters, if you must! I want that girl, the _REAL _sorcerer girl, in front of me BY SUNDOWN! GOOO!!!" He roared to his scattering Death Eaters.

* * *

The two Sakura's laughed heartily, one so hard that she leaned on the other for support.

"And then- and then" The other Sakura said, he face was flushed and she was trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard, "Syaoran jumped out and said 'MY NAME IS _NOT _KID!', and whacked Ceroberos with the back of his sword!"

The second Sakura, already laughing uncontrollably staggered even further with desperate spasms of laughter. The two Sakuras were now clinging to each other, and it took almost a full two minutes for both of them to reign in their peels of laughter long enough for the second Sakura to put together a coherent sentence. The first Sakura looked down at her friend and laughed anew.

"What?" The second Sakura chuckled.

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes, you! Where is the shy and reserved Mirror Card now, hmm?" the first Sakura beamed, the second simply grinned and looked down at her knees, since both of them had long since collapsed and were sitting on their knees, "Hey, hey! I'm just teasing you! Don't think I don't like it!"

The second Sakura looked up at the primary Sakura, "You know that your the only one that can make me laugh like that! You, and... well, your brother." The mirror Sakura promptly blushed. Sakura knew that the spirit had strong feelings toward her brother, however impossible their relationship might be. After all, 'The Mirror' was a Sakura Card and Touya was in love with Yokito: neither of these facts really supported options of a relationship between the two.

"Oh, yes," Sakura nodded perceptively, "I know," than the two shared a comfortable silence before Sakura asked her mirror, "So, how is everyone? Anyone need anything, any requests?"

This had become a regular thing the two of them did. She would summon 'The Mirror' and the two of them would spend some quality time together. Sakura would tell stories, and they would drink tea and what not. For most people, they would think of it rather odd for one to have a conversation with... well... themselves, but Sakura saw 'The Mirror' as an individual, with her own personality. She would eventually ask her clone if the other cards had any requests, not that she couldn't ask them directly, but it had become a little routine between the two of them. They shared a comfortable relationship. Sakura would never admit it, not even to herself, but she trusted and loved 'The Mirror' as much if not more than 'The Hope'. They shared an unusual bond.

"Well, 'The Time' thanks you again for using him. 'The Return' is complaining again, says he hasn't been used in ages, but he's just a crotchety old man, and 'The Flower' really misses you. She hasn't been summoned since you sent flowers to your Grandpa last spring."

"Tell 'The Return' that I'm just about due for a visit to the past, and I have surprise plans for 'The Flower', but tell her it will be a few months, I hope. Of course, return 'The Time's thanks, tell him that he did wondrously, as always."

The mirror Sakura nodded in affirmation before sitting up, "About time I get back to the other cards. You _are _going to Tomoyo's house in ten minutes, right?"

Sakura whirled her glance to the clock. She had totally lost track of time! "Aieeeyaaa! I'm going to be LATE!" She screeched, reaching her hand out, and 'The Mirror' rolled her green eyes affectionately before she zipped back to Sakura's hand, who promptly got up and and ran down the stairs. It was here that she realized that her roller blades were broken and she couldn't skate, "Kami-sama!" She sighed and reached for her door knob and was startled when it opened at the same time. She jumped back and the door opened slowly.

She smiled when the head Tomoyo Daidouji poked her head into the Kinomoto household, dark violet hair and all, "Hey, Sakura!" She smiled.

"Hi, Tomoyo. I was just about to leave for your house!"

"I had a hunch that something would hold you back. After all, you just got here a few days ago, I figured someone would want to hog all your time."

Again, Tomoyo's perception never seemed to fail to amaze and astound.

"Yeah, right on again, Tomoyo. Well, shall we have lunch here than?" Sakura was caught by an unsettling feeling in her stomach. Those tea cakes Kero had made her eat were still making her stomach feel unsettled.

"Okay!"

Sakura had fixed up some fried shrimp and two rice balls she had found in the refrigerator, and the two of them sat down to eat it. They sat in a comfortable silence, Tomoyo was watching something out of the back window when she broke the silence. It had started to drizzle.

"This whole idea of war, it scares me," Tomoyo said slowly.

"I know, it scares me, too," Sakura said, in the same tone as Tomoyo.

"I'm afraid for you," Tomoyo continued, "but I know that your powerful, and that you can take care of yourself. It's just the idea of this psychotic madman hurting people... how can someone do that?"

Sakura and Tomoyo stared at eachother silently for a moment before Sakura answered, "I don't know, Tomoyo. If it makes you feel any better, from what Dumbledore has told me, he isn't much of a person anymore. He changed himself, corrupted himself. He's so different from anyone else that he isn't really human at all anymore. From what I've seen and been told, he's exactly like the dictator Adolf Hitler was half a century ago. He knows there's nothing _wrong _with non-magical people, he's just using them as a means to an end to gain power."

"Sakura," Tomoyo said stricken, "Didn't Adolf Hitler kill six million people before he was stopped?"

"Yes," Sakura said slowly, "but you and me, Eriol and Syaoran, Harry, Ron, and Hermione: we're not going to let that happen. Voldemort will get justice for what he has done already. He's not going to win."

"I know," Tomoyo replied, "I guess I just don't have the taste for fighting."

Sakura decided that truly good people never did develop a taste for it. This line of conversation was depressing, and she decided to switch to something a bit more uplifting.

"So, have you started your training with Eriol, yet?" Sakura asked.

Seeing the clear change of subject, Tomoyo smiled appreciatively, "Yes, he has. It's extremely exciting! I must admit that I was never jealous of the fact that you and Syaoron, and than Eriol, could do magic, but now that I can do little bits here and there, I must admit, its very nice."

"That it is. So what has he taught you?"

"Not much yet. Says I have to learn proper technique first. Right now he's teaching me meditation techniques, but he showed me how to ask the environment for help as well, just for emergency purposes. The more desperate I am, the better it works."

"If I had a talent for the camera like you do, Tomoyo, I'd be tempted to record _your _adventures while training," Sakura giggled.

"Oh, don't do that!" Tomoyo said, completely serious, "Oh, heavens, that would be embarrassing!" Sakura laughed wickedly, and Tomoyo, who still didn't know what was so funny, started to laugh as well.

Sakura suddenly stopped and took a staggering gasp, whirling her head to front door, "Tomoyo! Get upstairs now!" Five people had just apparated onto Sakura's front yard, and she realized that the bad feeling in her stomach had nothing to do with tea cakes, "Death Eaters!"

Tomoyo and Sakura jumped up and ran, just as the front door exploded inwards, a hail of curses pouring into the hallway. Sakura whipped out her wand, "_Protego Cavalierium!_" The white light of a shield charm blasted a path to the door, forcing the assailants back just long enough for Tomoyo to jump back and get out of the way of the crossfire. The shield broke and Tomoyo was standing in the living room behind Sakura, whose wand was out and firing off every curse, hex and offensive spell she could think of. The hallway was already in ruins, though some kind of magic was protecting her mother's shrine by the door. Shelving had fallen off the wall, mold was growing from a hole in the plaster and large palm sized spiders were being summoned from a vortex on the floor.

Sakura was incensed! How did they find her! She whirled around the wall for cover, Tomoyo was standing, looking scared, but calm. When the Death Eaters at the door stopped firing spells into the house, Sakura jumped into the hallway, "_Oblititerium!_" The wall would suffer, but so would those behind it. Sakura's front door was literally blasted away, along with a great portion of the surrounding wall. She knew it had worked when she heard the startled cries of the Death Eaters being thrown bodily back from the shock wave of the blast. That was almost the same moment she heard a pop and turned suddenly to find a black cloaked figure with his wand outstretched. It wasn't pointing at Sakura, however. It was pointed at Tomoyo.

Before Sakura even knew what had happened, a black and purple flame burst out of the attackers wand and engulfed Tomoyo, who shrieked in surprise. The fire doused itself almost immediately, and though her friend wasn't burned, her eyes were closed and she was convulsing on the floor sickeningly.

The very breath in Sakura's lungs was on fire as a fury Sakura had never _ever _felt before erupted into being. It was righteous and terrible and before Sakura even knew it the Staff of Sealing was summoned, and in her hand. She did a complex twirl with her wand crying, "_Ampeledum!_" The spell missed the assailant, instead striking the wall behind him. The attacker laughed, _laughed_, as if this was some fun game. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't laughing long, as the vortex that the _Ampeledum _spell had opened on the wall, suddenly and viscously a tendril reached out and grabbed him by the waist, breaking both his legs as he was yanked into the wall and through the vortex, teleporting him to the first location Sakura had thought of: 300 feet above Tomoeda, where her and Tomoyo's first flight together had been.

The assailant dispatched, Sakura turned and with a low, long, and positively murderous scream that would have made veteran marines think twice, she began to march down her hall. She summoned 'The Shield' just as six curses flew into it. She could see the forms attacking her. They were confident a little girl would put up very little fight, but Sakura wasn't a little girl. Sakura was the most powerful sorcerer alive and her best friend was on the floor of her house, dying. She summoned 'The Windy', her fury overflowing into magical power the likes she had never felt and 'The Windy' blew out of the house with such ferocity that it shook the whole house and blew the Death Eaters out of the door like scraps of paper. She walked out of the ruins of her front door, the four remaining Death Eaters were sprawled out moaning painfully. They were relatively uninjured, though one did have a palm sized sliver of his wand sticking out of his arm. It was causing his whole arm to turn a sickly green.

This was a first for Sakura, as she gazed down on her clearly defeated opponents. She had _never once _considered murdering anyone in cold blood, but she was struggling with herself not to summon 'The Fiery' and incinerate all four of them. Completely annihilate them. She took a deep breath: _that isn't what Tomoyo would want. _She had much more important things to do, so she bound them with magic ropes and sealed them with 'The Lock' card, and promptly ran inside, and jumped down to Tomoyo. She was still shaking in spasms, and she needed someone to help her, and _now! _Sakura needed to get to England. She needed to be in Madame Pompfry's Hospital ward, and there was only one way for it. She summoned 'The Mirror', and the blue spirit form of 'The Mirror' appeared before her, startled.

"I need to get to Hogwarts! A mirror closest to the hospital ward!" Sakura said as calmly as she could to her friend, but it didn't matter, he voice shook like a leaf caught in the wind.

"Of course!" The spirit flew fast and urgently up the stairs to the nearest full length mirror, and Sakura summoned 'The Power', granting her the strength to carry Tomoyo up the stairs and to the mirror without encumbrance. The mirror spirit walked silently into the mirror, and suddenly instead of the mirror depicting a reflection of the room behind it (the mirror spirit didn't leave a reflection), it swirled and showed a hallway that was clearly in Hogwarts castle. Ceroberos, who had been with Eriol discussing the recent development with the war, arrived.

"Sakura! What happened!"

"No time to explain in detail! We were attacked and Tomoyo's been hurt! Stay here and tell anyone who asks that I've returned to Hogwarts to get Tomoyo help!" Sakura jumped through the mirror, and immediately felt her arms weaken from the energy drain of jumping through a mirror halfway across the world. Sakura didn't give it a second thought as she ran down the hall, 'The Mirror' returning to card form and silently returning to her pocket. She knew where she was now: on the third floor corridor, a stones throw from the hospital wing. She was now almost running though the hall, and with a burst of magic, the double doors leading into the wing were blown open.

"Madame Pomfery!" Sakura shouted, and it was half a moment before the healer was running into the room, saying something about keeping It down in a hospital, but she swallowed her comments the moment she saw the violet haired girl twitching in Sakura's arms.

"What happened!"

"We were attacked by Death Eaters! They hit Tomoyo with some kind of curse! It was definitely dark magic, black and purple flame, no wand movement and he didn't say an oral incantaion! It engulfed her and rapidly extingushed itself."

"Let me take her! I need to start work immediately!" Sakura handed off Tomoyo, taking one last look at her face, desperately not wanting to leave her, before whirling to Madame Pomfery.

"There are four Death Eaters bound outside my house in Japan! Where is Professor Dumbledore? I need to tell him!"

"He should be up in his office! The password is 'raspberry tart'!" She whirled and rand out of the door, casting 'The Dash' the second she was out of sight. She passed several people on her way to his office, but considering that she was running at highway speeds, no one had a chance of stopping her.

* * *

The sunlight of a new dawn was shining through the third story windows of the hospital wing. Here sat Sakura with a copy of this mornings Daily Prophet spread over her lap as she leaned back into a padded chair. Tomoyo Daidouji was asleep in a bed next to her, her violet hair spread wide and messily over the fluffed pillow. The sun was shining brightly in a cloudless sky and glistening off of white snow, making this morning especially bright.

Tomoyo moaned slightly, and stirred. Sakura immediately took notice and folded her newspaper hastily, leaning in towards her friend, "Tomoyo? Are you awake?"

She murmured again, and then slowly opened her eyes, moaning outloud, "Sakura?"

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed, thanking any deities that might be listening that Tomoyo was finally awake, "I'm here Tomoyo, how do you feel?"

She yawned and moaned, "Stiff, sore, like a stepped on marshmallow. What happened?"

"What do you remember last?"

Tomoyo propped herself up on the bed so that she was leaning against the clean limestone walls of the hospital wing. She looked down at the bed for a second, "I remember, having lunch with you... and talking. Then something happened. You said that Death Eaters had arrived... and then... They came in through the door... and one of them attacked me. I think I blacked out."

"That was two days ago."

"Two days! Where am I?"

"Your in the Hogwarts hospital ward. I brought you here after the fight. The Death Eater hit you with something nasty," She said in explanation, then in a lower voice she said, "Madam Pomfrey had to work on you for six hours to get you stable. I was... really afraid." The unshed tears were there, clear on the bottom of Sakura's eyes, but she gave a small smile, "but your awake! Your okay now."

"What about the Death Eaters? What happened to them?" Tomoyo asked quietly.

Sakura sat up a bit, "Well, there was five of them. After I d-defeated all of them, I brought you here and found Dumbledore. Together we went back to my house, repaired the damage and found the four Death Eaters I had tied up and bound with 'The Lock' card. They were all awake, except one who had hit hit head pretty good and got knocked unconscious, and all in a very foul mood. We stunned them and brought them to ministry, where they were arrested and tried with a dozen crimes and were thrown in Azkaban not long after that. We came back here and I haven't gone far from here since."

Tomoyo was famous for her perception, and she knew something was wrong, something Sakura hadn't mentioned yet. It had to be one of two things, "Sakura, what about your family?"

"Touya, Yokito, and my father have been relocated to Gangrenous Blue Switch Redbird until Eriol and Dumbledore can put up wards on the house."

"Gangrenous Blue Switch Redbird?" Tomoyo said, completely confused by this.

At first Sakura laughed, saying, "What?" Then her face fell as realization dawned on her, "The place they're hidden in is protected by whats called a Fidelus Charm. Since you don't already know the location, it sounds like... that... to you."

"Ahh," She said, the feeling was still there. Sakura and Tomoyo were best friends, and whatever was bothering her, she wouldn't need a lot of prodding for her to talk about it. So if the problem wasn't with her family than it could only be...

"What about the fifth Death Eater," Tomoyo said slowly, and she knew right away when she saw Sakura's face visibly paled and one of the tears that had been threatening to fall finally slid down her cheek that she had hit what was wrong, "Um... They, uh, found him... later that night. I-I cast a spell that teleported him three-or-four hundred feet above Tomoeda. He... died on the impact." Sakura was staring silently at the clean white bedspread that covered Tomoyo, the tears now running quietly down her cheeks, "I-I killed him. I... ugh." Sakura gave up trying to talk and grasped her friend in a soft hug as she broke down, sobbing in her friend's arms.

"Sakura," Tomoe shushed her and patted her head soothingly.

"Thats something I'll never be able to undo," Sakura sobbed, "From now until forever, I will always have killed someone."

"You defended yourself against a man who was set upon killing you."

"I saw what he had done to you, and I thought you were dying," Sakura said frantically, "I could take comfort in the thought that I was blinded by rage, but that isn't how it happened. I knew exactly what I was doing when I threw that spell, and I knew he would die. And I did it anyway!" Sakura was practically screaming at herself, "What kind of person does that make me?"

"Your no different than you were before, Sakura. You are the same little girl who uses ultimate power to rescue small cats from trees, just because your afraid for them. Your the same Sakura who lets me video tape every instance of relevance of your life, even though I know it embarrasses you to no end. You are the Sakura that I love, and you are my friend. That hasn't changed. What you have done... I know its terrible to you, but Sakura, your going to have to live on. You are a human being and you once made a mistake. Its not something you'll be able to take back, so your just going to have to keep living," Tomoyo pushed Sakura up and gave her a soft smile, looking serenely into her eyes, "Now: here you are, crying on my shoulder, about someone who tried to kill you, no less, and that's what makes all the difference. So cheer up."

Sakura smiled tiredly and wiped the tears from her eyes. This wasn't over, she knew she'd be dealing with this for a LONG time, but for now she was going to take the advice she had given Harry and shape up, "Okay."

"Have I missed anything else?" Tomoyo said, promptly changing the subject. Sakura took the change gratefully.

"Well, we had those four Death Eaters arrested, right? Dumbledore took his case back to ministry. Told them that this was definitive proof that Voldemort had returned. After all, what other explanation would you have for five known Death Eaters running around again? Well, apparently, the _brilliant _Minister of Magic thinks that the only reasonable explanation is that the 'Notorious Mass _Murderer_' Sirius Black have the Death Eaters rallying behind him as their new leader!"

Tomoyo choked on her laughter, "He's actually _that _incompetent? This is the _leader _of the wizarding world?"

"Yes! And his paranoia is getting so bad it's almost tangable, at least thats what Sirius told me."

"Sirius Black came here?"

"Yeah, to tell me when my family left for Lightning Peaches," Sakura said, "He gave me as much information as he possibly could before Mrs. Weasley drug him out of here by his ear. He sends his well wishes, by the way."

Tomoyo ignored the new instance of wacky language caused by magic and allowed her brain to travel to new subjects, mainly the fact of the location, "So, I'm inside of Hogwarts?" She couldn't possibly keep the giddiness out of her voice.

"Yes!" Sakura smiled widely, "And even though your what wizards would call a 'muggle', I'll see if Dumbledore will let me give you a tour!-"

"Is my patient finally awake!?" Madame Pomfrey was striding from her office, with what was no doubt a very foul tasting potion in her hand, "And you didn't come for me?"

"Oh," Sakura said, "I didn't even think to come and get you! I'm sorry!"

"Yes, well," Pomfrey said distractedly as she handed Tomoyo a beaker of a blackish-brown potion with a consistency not unlike syrup, "Tomaya was it? Tomoyo? Yes, well you'll need to drink this... _all_ of this, and by that I mean 'until you can no longer force any to come out'. I think after that you should be fit for release."

Tomoyo nodded and propped the potion backward, and began to drink the fluid as fast as it's texture and consistency would allow, "It tastes kinda... like a metallic kinda saltiness."

"Thats probably the ground lynx hair. It's a Magic Attracting Potion. Causes any residual magic from the curse to stick to the potion so your body can process it naturally."

"Makes sense," Tomoyo said with a nod, "So I'm free to go?"

"Yes, unless there's anything else bothering you," Madam Pomfrey took the empty potion bottle and turned to Sakura, "I think Dumbledore wanted you and Miss Kinomoto to go up to the Headmaster's office once you were feeling up to it."

Sakura nodded, and Madam Pomfrey left back to her office. Sakura and Tomoyo left into the hall not long after that. Sakura had fun pointing out things to her as they waled by, like her transfiguration classroom and her favorite portrait: a large canvas with thirteen Buddha-sized male ballerinas, twirling with paper stars spell-o-taped to their wands, raised high up in the air. It made Tomoyo laugh so hard that her friend had to lean into her to keep from collapsing.

As they walked, Sakura also noticed something that made her smirk. As they walked by people, a lot of guys were doing double takes when they had seen Tomoyo.

"What are they staring at?" Tomoyo whispered uncomfortably.

"_You_, Tomoyo," Sakura said, "They're staring at _you_." Tomoyo wasn't a little girl anymore. Her dark violet hair came down well past her shoulder blades, slightly curling at the bottom, giving her hair a living appeal. Her eyes were deep and dark, they had a striking and sensual look. She was also pleasantly curvaceous, and her white terry cotton hospital robes gave her a clean and approachable look. In layman's terms: Tomoyo was _very_ pretty.

Tomoyo usually didn't get this much attention in Japan because her natural maturity blended her in well with everyone else. Here, where no one knew her, things were different. Sakura explained this to Tomoyo, who promptly declared, "I've already got my eye on someone."

"Ah, yes. A charming 46-but-might-as-well-be-17 year old Englishman, if I'm not mistaken."

Tomoyo blushed prettily, but didn't say anything to confirm nor deny the statement.

They soon arrived at the gargoyle statue leading up to the Headmaster's tower and Sakura said the password, still 'raspberry tart'. Sakura knocked when they reached the door at the top of the spiral escalator stairs and were heralded in by Dumbledore. He was sitting at his desk, fidgeting with one of the silver instruments.

"Ah! Miss Kinomoto! Miss Daidouji, I presume? It's good to see that your fully recovered! He stood up, gestured to two chairs as he conjured them with his wand, "It's good to meet you, Miss Daidouji."

Sakura sat, and Tomoyo followed suit, while replying, "Likewise, Headmaster."

"Lemon Sherbet?" He offered, and Sakura and Tomoyo politely declined. The Headmaster folded his fingers in a tepee and observed the two in front of him silently, gathering his thoughts, "Sakura, I feel it very important, as a fellow member of The Order of the Phoenix and a student I have confidence in, that I should warn you of something," He paused for a moment, his glance shifting for half a second to Tomoyo, "I don't think it's going to be very long now before I have been forcibly extracted from the position of Headmaster at this school."

The news was met with silence. Then Sakura spoke quietly, "Thats... not good."

Dumbledore regarded them silently for a few more seconds, "This obviously hasn't happened yet, and with Cornelius Fudge's current attitude, I doubt there is any way of stopping it, but If I'm not in this school, there's no telling what Voldemort might do, and you should be prepared."

Sakura raised her hand to the Staff of Sealing, "Is there chance that Voldemort himself might come here?"

"It is... strongly unlikely," He said, "More likely Voldemort would send Death Eaters or dementors or other manner of dark creatures."

"Then I will be prepared," She said firmly, wondering if she had any Sakura Card that was effective against dementors.

Dumbledore nodded, appreciating Sakura's resolve, "Good. Alright, let's move on to other matters. The wards on your house are up, as well as the wards instated by Mr. Hiiragizawa- curious man, he is. How do you know him?"

"He's an indirect ancestor of mine."

"Really? Most curious," He took an imperceptible look towards Tomoyo and nodded, "Mr. Hiiragizawa asked about Tomoyo. I had to reassure him for half an hour that she was under the best of care. Anyway, he placed his own wards on the house and you and your family are safe to return whenever you wish. However, I must recommend that your family stays at Number 12 Grimmauld Place for the remainder of the vacation. It is likely that if Voldemort is willing to risk exposure to capture you, than he is desperate enough to try it again. So, that leaves only one issue, then. That of Miss Daidouji."

Tomoyo cocked her head, and gave the headmaster a curious raise of her eyebrows.

"It has come to my attention you are what we call a muggle. A person with no magical ability, yes?"

"This is true."

"Under normal circumstances I would likely erase your memory of the event and send you on your way, oblivious to what has occurred. It is how the wizarding society stayed secret for these last thousand-and-a-half years. However, something tells me that you much a part of this and that Obliviating your memory help neither of us. Aside from that, I believe it won't be too much longer before Sakura is a powerful enough wizard to _restore_ your memories. So, in this consideration, I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, on behalf my wizard colleagues and with the diplomatic privileges afforded to me as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft of Wizardry, welcome you to our world as our guest. I am entrusting Sakura as your guide for as long as you should stay amongst us."

"I am honored! Thank you, very much!" Tomoyo bowed politely.

Dumbledore glanced from Tomoyo to Sakura, "Curious. It's odd that the muggle repelling charms and wards seem not to affect you at all. Are you sure she has no magic at all?"

"Actually, she is in active druidic training, and she is my second cousin, so the odds of her having at least some magic are very likely."

"I see." He nodded again, "Well, I imagine you'll want to see you family. I believe Mr. Hiiragizawa is there as well, and he brought a guest: A Mr. Li."

"Syaoran!"

"I assume you know each other, then?"

Tomoyo giggled, and turned her face, "You could say that."

"He's my boyfriend."

"Ahh. All the better. Will you be joining her, then, Miss Daidouji?"

"Yes," Tomoyo said, with her most serene smile, "I would be a complete fool not to take up an offer like that."

A/N: So, this is one of the longest chapters to date and I humbly hope you enjoyed it. It's very Tomoyo-centric, and I thought she deserved it. I like her character. I hope no one gets to angry at me for having her nearly die.

So what was the experiment? Basically the whole 'Sakura and the Mirror being best friends' scene. Please, tell me if any of it sucked, or any complaints in general.

I don't think the ENTIRE CCS gang will be going to Hogwarts, maybe one additional: either Tomoyo or Syaoran, but its likely all of them will visit and I plan on giving most of them an active role. I also do not plan on ending this at the end of fifth year.

Sakura becoming a killer? Tomoyo pretty much explains it all. It was bound to happen sooner or later, and it's not going to be an easy thing for her to deal with. She is, after all, Sakura Kinomoto. Look for the next chapter along the lines of a week or so.

Please review!


	12. Merry Christmas! I bring presents!

A/N: A shout out to my prime supporters misthafalls and madmanalpha who have each reviewed more than THREE WHOLE TIMES each! I appreciate them immensely, and cross my right hand over my chest and bow slightly in respect as 24 rifles sound off in the background in solute! I thank you all, anyone who has read and/or reviewed!

IMPORTANT: I received an anonymous review asking why I have Yukito's name as being "Yokito". This made my eyes get really wide and the hair stand up on the back of my neck as if some dastardly fiend had just scratched his long yellow finger nails on a blackboard. I assure you, it was a terrible, shameful mistake. I sort of lost all contact with my beta after I went through my 6 month long vow of silence. I will fix it, just not immediately as that I don't feel like it, but I will eventually go back and edit out all the YOKITO's and make them YUKITO's.

I don't even own the computer I'm typing this on! Without further ado:

Chapter 12:

"Gentleman, gentleman! Please, keep calm!" Sirius Black raised his hands diplomatically, "Trust me, I understand that you two want to storm out of here and go straight to the girls, but the truth is we don't know how the Death Eaters found her, and just running out after them could do a lot more harm than good!"

"We've been waiting patiently for two days now!" Syaoran said, his arms crossed rigidly.

"This is getting ridiculous," Eriol said lightly, but the frustration in his voice was easily picked up by anyone.

"I know, and I'm telling you that I understand! I really do, but you have to trust Dumbledore on this! They are probably in the safest location on the planet at the moment, and both of them will come here as soon as they can!" Sirius couldn't fault the two for being concerned, "For now we need to wait patiently. I'll even floo Dumbledore right now if it'll make you feel any better!"

"That won't be necessary," Dumbledore said with his slight smile and twinkling eyes. Sakura and Tomoyo were standing in front of him, Tomoyo looking wistfully around but her eyes locked on Eriol. Sakura simply looked down at the floor with a solid stare, a look of thinly veiled guilt clear on her face.

"Sakura!" Syaoran ran up to her, embracing her tightly.

Eriol did the same, but then he stopped short, instead taking Tomoyo's hands in his and looked into her eyes. They silently stared at each other for some time, both with slight smiles on their faces.

"Are you all right?" Syaoran asked Sakura, seeing the glum feel of her countenance.

"Yeah, I'm okay," She said quietly.

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

"It's just… well, I can't help but feel guilty! Not even a full day after I tell you about what it is I've gotten involved in and Tomoyo gets a– attacked! I can't help but feel responsible."

"To say that you were not responsible at all would be ignorant," Eriol said, not breaking his stare with Tomoyo, "but your intentions are solid. Are you okay now, Tomoyo?"

"I'm great," She nodded almost adamantly, refusing to break the stare with Eriol, hands clasped tightly together.

"So no one was permanently damaged. You were right to become involved, and we are right to help you. The consequences for inaction are far greater than what happened to Tomoyo. No one blames you, Sakura."

Sakura nodded, swallowing this piece of the best she could.

"Well said, Mr. Hiiragizawa," Dumbledore said, "Now, unless there is anything else any of you need, I must talk to Mrs. Weasley," He bowed slightly to Eriol and Sakura, and took his leave out of the living room and into the kitchen.

They watched him leave silently, before Syaoran spoke, "I'll be staying here for the time being, until this mess the wizards call a war is straitened up anyway. We actually only got here an hour or so ago. Mr. Kinomoto and your brother has been here a couple of days."

"Thank you for coming," Sakura said, looking up at him, "It's comforting that you're here."

"I couldn't not come," Syaoran said, "Are you kidding? Mr. Dumbledore is a great wizard and all but-"

"He isn't you," she said, smiling, then turned to Eriol, who wasn't having a staring contest with Tomoyo anymore, now simply had his arm around her shoulder, "What about you, Eriol?"

He looked down slightly, at Tomoyo, "I was concerned, of course. There is another matter at hand as well, but that can be sorted out at a later time. Right now, you probably want to see your family. I believe Dumbledore has already told them what is going on."

"How much does they know?" Sakura said, startled.

"They know about Voldemort's return, Harry Potter, the ongoing war between the two forces. So, I'd have to say they know everything."

Sakura sighed as they climbed up the stairs to the first floor landing. She knew her father understood that her duty as the Card Mistress put her into these kind of situations, and that she'd probably be doing similar things like this for the rest of her life. She was more worried about Touya. He didn't do so well with her putting herself into dangerous situations, and this war was proving to be one of the most dangerous situations she had put herself into, and no one had ever attacked her at her home. That was one of the perks of being Master of the Sakura Cards: all the houses of magic that kept an ear on the other houses knew about her.

The Clow Cards, were, after all, celebrated magical artifacts that had been lost for five centuries. Sorcerers from all over the world had searched for them, much like the non-magical people searched for "the lost continent" of Atlantis or the Holy Grail. The fact that not only had she found them, but become their master was incredible enough to a lot of rogue sorcerers and the lot of 'bad guys' whom she had intervened on from attacking her at her home. These, however, were wizards. They preferred isolation and observation. Other houses of magic were unknown to most wizards except those wizards who made it their business to find out about them, like Hermione and Dumbledore. Voldemort had no idea who she was, and had no idea how much she would make him pay for what he had done. What he had made her do…

They stopped outside of a bedroom on the third floor, across the hall from Buckbeak and the Master Bedroom, "This is where they are staying," Eriol said simply, "Do you wish to be alone?"

Sakura stared at the door in apprehension, "Yes," she said, reaching for the door handle and opening it. She stepped inside. It was a fairly small room, but must have been one of the rooms that Mrs. Weasley said she would be restoring. The wall paper on the wall was off white, crisp and fresh, and the painted portions of the room looked new as well. There was a small table between two beds with a white lamp on it. There was a closet on one wall and then another door leading somewhere else across from that. The carpet was fresh here as well and thickly padded. It was more than comfortable.

Mr. Kinomoto sat on his bed, leaning against a wall and reading a novel quietly to lamplight. Touya was sitting with an impatient expression on his face, hands folded over his lap. He was wearing white button up shirt with the light blue and gold crest of Tokyo University embroidered over the pocket. Sakura's entrance made him jump up.

"Sakura's here!" Touya said to her father, "How are you? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine! Tomoyo's fine. What about you two: are you two okay?"

"Yes," Fujitaka said, "The wizards have been very hospitable to us. Mrs. Weasley is a very kind woman, I envy Arthur, but he appreciates how lucky he is. They've done a good job answering our questions, explaining things…"

Sakura glanced from her father to Touya and back again, "Yeah… about that…" She said hesitantly.

Touya smiled slightly, "Yeah, about that. A war? Seriously, Sakura. When exactly were tou going to tell us? Hmm?"

"Alright, that's enough, Touya." Her father said smiling, then turned to Sakura, "Touya and me had a chat before you came here. I think I might have finally gotten through to him a little bit, not saying that I'm at all happy about this, either. I sure wish you would have told me what's going on a whole lot sooner."

"Yeah," Touya said hesitantly, "Dad pretty much convinced me that you can take care of yourself, now. I guess my monster of a little sister has finally grown up into the Godzilla you have on your favorite t-shirt!" He said laughing.

Blast that Touya! He had learned to always keep his feet in plain sight to keep them from being stomped on whenever he called her a monster.

"Seriously, Sakura. Your fighting in a war?" Fujitaka said, "I mean, that just seems so surreal! My fifteen year-old daughter is fighting in a war against the most powerful dark wizard in history!"

"When I told you four years ago that I was a sorceress, was it any more surreal than explaining that for the last two years I had been running all over town collecting magical cards that could potentially destroy the world?"

"No," her father said with humor, "I suppose not."

Touya shook his head, "I still can't believe you managed to keep that a secret for two whole years! It makes one think 'what other secrets have you been keeping?'"

Sakura looked up at her taller brother with a completely straight face and dead panned, "I'm engaged to Syaoran."

Her father's mouth opened slightly, and his eyes got a little wider, Touya however made about six different expressions: first surprise, then anger, disgust, remorse, and… was that a proud smile? Then finally he just settled on completely dumbfounded.

"WHAT!" He said.

"S-Sakura, are you serious?" Fujitaka said with a nervous chuckle.

"No, but you should have seen your face," She said with a smile, "That was, how do they say it? Priceless?" she took a moment to laugh as Touya and Fujitaka shared a relieved expression. Unbeknownst to Sakura, they had both had a conversation about Syaoran and had agreed it was only a matter of time. After all, Sakura had been practically dating him for the better part of six years. After she was finished laughing at their expense, she continues, "Have you all been introduced to everyone, then? Host Sirius Black, Dumbledore, Harry, Ron and Hermione?"

"Yes," Mr. Kinomoto nodded, "We were introduced shortly after we were evacuated here, and we've had a couple of days to meet everyone."

"What do you guys think?"

"There a bit eccentric, I don't know if that's because their wizards or because they seem eccentric because we're in another country," Touya said, "Everyone seems pretty nice, but something tells me your onto something else."

"Yes, particularly Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Do you sense anything… particular about them."

"I do. You sense it as well then?" Touya said.

"Sense what, exactly?" Mr. Fujitaka said, "Are you talking about that feeling of destiny you get around them?"

Sakura nodded.

"What does it mean," Touya said, forehead furrowing.

"Well, it could mean a lot of things, but what it means to me is that they are center of what's happening here." She stared off into space for a second, deep in thought, then snapped back to attention, "Well, Eriol, Syaoran and Tomoyo are waiting outside. I'm going to go introduce them around. I'll be back to check up on you guys."

They said their goodbyes and Sakura left the room.

"Well, still in one piece, that's a good sign," Syaoran said dryly.

"My Dad took care of that," She said, "Touya was actually… reasonable."

They chuckled at this for a second before Sakura said, "Hey, let's go down to the second floor. I want to introduce you."

So Sakura and company walked together down to second floor. Sakura knocked on one of the doors which was quickly followed by a "come in". Sakura opened the door, and walked in followed closely by Eriol, Tomoyo, and Syaoran. Hermione was sitting on a bed doing Arithmancy homework, ginny was in the bed across from her writing a letter on parchment (she looked decidedly unhappy), and Harry and Ron were on opposite sides of the table with Ron's wizard chess set between them. It was clear that, once again, Harry was fighting an uphill battle, having lost all but one of his pawns, a knight, and of course his queen, while Ron had lost a rook and two pawns. The feel of the room and the expressions on the faces of the occupants were subdued.

"Sakura!" Hermione cried, and everyone got up to greet her, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," She answered immediately, wondering how many times she was going to answer that question today, "I'm fine. In one piece at any rate. Hey, Ginny, Ron, Harry." She nodded at each of them, "These are friends of mine from Japan and China. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny please meet Eriol Hiiragizawa, Syaoran Li, my boyfriend, and Tomoyo Daidouji, my best friend. Eriol and Syaoran are sorcerers themselves and Tomoyo is a druid in training."

The next few minutes were filled with various introductions of all the varying people in the room. After introductions were made Ron sat down with Eriol to play wizard chess (harry had made a dramatic bow, conceding another pointless game to Ron), while Tomoyo, Ginny, Sakura, and Hermione continued to talk amongst themselves.

"Whats that your writing there, Ginny?" Sakura said, a hunch forming in the back of her mind.

"Mmm," Ginny said, slightly embarrassed, "I believe I some parts they're called 'Dear John' letters."

Hermione nodded, "I kind of noticed things were getting a little rocky between you two."

"Dear John?" Tomoyo said.

"A letter telling Mr. Michael Corner that Ginny is no longer interested," Sakura said in explaination.

"Oh, that's sad!" Tomoyo said in condolences, "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I imagine I will," She said with a slight smile, "I'm sort of interested in someone else right now," She gave Sakura a significant look and said, "Handsome boyfriend you've got there." She said.

Sakura smirked, "Yep. I think I'll keep him."

Ginny chuckled, then grew serious, "Tomoyo, right?" She said, "I'm sorry to hear what happened to you. You are alright?"

She gave Ginny her patented serene smile, "Yes, I'm much better now."

Hermione nodded and continued where Ginny left off, "Good. Well, I'm sorry that was your introduction to the wizarding world. Did Sakura say you were a practitioner of druidic magic? I thought the druids were extinct…"

So the eight of them made this sort of conversation until slightly before dinner when Eriol pulled Sakura and Syaoran aside, out into the second floor hallway.

"Where's Ceroberos?" Eriol inquired.

Sakura smiled, "He opted to stay at the castle."

* * *

"YAHOO!" Ceroberos declared, a wooden spoon the size of his head firmly clamped in his right paw as four house elves delivered a large bowl of pudding almost a foot overfilled. His face melted, "Ohhhhh… this place is heaven! And house-elves are just a new word for angels as far as I'm concerned!"

"We are pleased Master Ceroberos enjoys our cooking!" declared the nearest elf, a lurid white towel with the Hogwarts crest embroidered into it.

"You have no idea!" Kero said melodramatically as he took a great spoonful and shoved it into his mouth, then his eyes watered as he sighed in complete contentment, "Oh angels! You even put chocolate syrup over it!"

* * *

"Ah, I see" Eriol said, "Well, you'll have to fill him in later. I have a research project for you, Sakura, and I think that if you find the answers we seek it could greatly help us out in this war."

"Research project?" she asked.

"Yes, consider it extra credit. It's about Clow Reed. You see, we know that he was born in England, not too far from here actually, the one book that he had about his early life said he was born in London. He went to Hogwarts and became a something of a legend here before he disappeared. We know from his book that he moved to Hong Kong and he became the apprentice of a sorcerer. We know that after he mastered the skills of a sorcerer he combined the two magics that he had learned over his lifetime into his life's work: The Clow Cards. What we don't know, what none of his books describe, is how he did it. We have no idea how he created the cards. My memories are indistinct from that time of his life, and pretty much useless, but I do remember he put a lot of stock into this school of yours. That's why I filled out the paper work to have you become a student here--"

"So it was you!" Syaoran declared, "I knew that that was exactly like something you would do!"

"Yes, yes, my cute little decendant," He said dismissively with a smile, "Very perceptive of you. That, however, is not the point. The point is that I had no idea that the wizards were in the middle of a war, but that is of minor consequence as that I believe it was the fate of the very stars that give us out power that brought you here at this time, and that it is your destiny to help these people."

Sakura nodded, "As do I, but what are you getting at?"

"Well, what I'm saying is that I believe that I- I mean Clow Reed, he hid the answer to how he made the Clow Cards at Hogwarts School, and that if you should find the answer to how the cards are made, than it would help you understand the cards even more than you intimately do. You could even conceivably create new cards. The possibilities are, as they say, endless."

Syaoran and Sakura looked stunned, "New cards?" He said.

"That isn't… sacrilege or something?"

Eriol gave her a knowing smile, "I, having a great deal of his memories, don't think he'd mind."

"What about the balance? Ying versus Yang? Clow Reed balanced his 52 Ying cards with an equal amount of Yang magic in the form of 'The Void' card. We don't even know what really happened to 'The Void'! Would creating more cards unbalance that?"

"Very good, Descendant!" Eriol said, Syaoran rolled his eyes, "I have another theory…" He eyed Sakura carefully, "… but for now I'll keep it to myself. It's still pretty sketchy and I haven't answered all the related questions."

Sakura and Syaoran gave eachother tired looks. This was just like Eriol. He was going to hold back the answer for as long as permitted. Admittedly, he usually revealed what he knew at the best possible time, but it was still tiring that he kept keeping information away from them 'for their own good' he would say.

"I think I know just how to start this research project out!" Sakura said.

Syaoran and Eriol looked interested.

"Well, I was thinking of making a return trip to the past anyway. I could use 'The Return to travel back in time to Clow Reeds Hogwarts days to see what I can find out there!"

"That's quite the idea, but you don't have the Nadeshiko Tree to power the card."

"I've actually been making short trips to the past with my own magic."

"You have?" Eriol said, looking impressed, "How long is short?"

"Twenty minutes here, an hour there," He definitely looked impressed now, "Don't be too impressed, I'm super exhausted when I return to the present and I still only have the power to observe, not change or interact with anything."

"Still," Syaoran said, "To use 'The Return' card with only your own magic, that's… well… impressive!"

Sakura shrugged it off, "It's getting late, and Christmas is tomorrow, so I think I'll turn in."

Eriol yawned slightly, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. See you all in the morning then, I'll come back here."

"What about you, Syaoran?" Sakura asked.

"Mr. Black is providing me with lodging. I should be staying here for the next few days."

Sakura yawned again, "Okay, then. Good night." She opened the door to her room and fell asleep shortly after she curled beneath the covers.

* * *

The next morning Sakura woke with a start, and a smile crept over her face as she realized what day it was. Throwing a glance over to the clock against the wall and seeing that it was decent hour, about eight in the morning, she threw off the covers and gave a yelp of excitement as she jumped out of bed and started to get dressed. Death Eaters or no, this was Christmas! This was by far her favorite holiday and no one messes with Christmas.

She ran to the closet and yanked it open to find the stuffed red burlap sack she had hastily put together a few days ago, realizing there was no way she would be at home for Christmas. She turned and with a gleeful smile she swung the sack over her shoulder, and soon the room was empty except for the sound of the patter of Sakura's feet as she ran out into the quiet hall. She got to the first room she knew had people in it, and only realized that it was Ron and Harry's room after she had rasped on the door loudly.

"Geez Sakura," Harry said after he opened it, "I was half expecting Mrs. Weasley to come and tell me Voldemort was attacking," He murmured tiredly.

"Sorry! Merry Christmas! I bring presents!"

Harry yawned again, turning aside to admit her, "Well, in that case, please come on."

Ron was already opening his presents. He was examining a bronze object carefully that Sakura learned later was a broom compass, and a book with tabs was laying haphazardly on a nearby chair. She smirked, realizing that it was some kind of day planner. Definitely a Hermione gift, I bet I'll get one too. Sakura dropped the sack on the ground (she had put unbreakable charms on all her presents, just in case) and opened it, after a second of looking around the top objects she harrumphed, pulling out her wand and whispering, "Accio Ron and Harry's gifts!" The two square boxes pushed their way out of the other presents and settled at the top. She picked them up and handed one to Ron, and then one to Harry.

Ron ripped it open to find that his was a jumbo Chocolate Frog. Four times larger than a normal frog, it also had four cards. Unfortunately he already had at least two of all the cards in the box, but it also had couple of extra good jumps in it, would 'ribbit' loudly if approached, and would eat flies or spiders if it could find any before the magic wore off.

Harry's gift had been a wand holster with several special charms placed on them, one to keep the wand from being stolen, either by summoning or by pickpockets (Ron had mumbled something about "Mundungus" and how it was a miracle that anyone still had their wands), and also had it's own banishing charm that would send the wand to the wizard or witches hand should they will it. Harry, to Sakura's glee, had highly approved.

Right about this time Hermione showed up and they exchanged presents with each other. Sure enough, Hermione had gotten Sakura a green version of the homework planner, which handsomely matched her eyes. Hermione carefully opened her present and was thrilled to find it was an exceedingly old tome.

"Totus Operertum Sorcercana?" She said, "The Complete Works of Sorcerery?"

"I've heard you get a lot of books for gifts, and I wanted to get something else, but I honestly couldn't think of anything better… I hope you like it," Sakura said, "I remembered you asked me if sorcerers were anything like what Professor Umbridge taught, and so I remembered this book and had Eriol send it to me…"

"It's- It's wonderful! How old is it? It's amazing!" Hermione's eyes were alight with excitement as she began to flip through it, "The whole thing is in Latin! I'll need a better translation spell!" Soon Hermione was completely disposed, lost in the workings of another book of knowledge.

Sakura spent the rest of the morning running around Number Twelve with her red sack over her shoulder, delivering presents with an infectious hyperactivity. She had a "get well soon" card and a tie for Mr. Weasley that changed colors depending on the mood of the wearer (they were visiting him a little later that day), a new wizard radio for Mrs. Weasley, a new wallet for Touya, a new briefcase for her father, new filters for Tomoyo's camcorder, a new video game for Ceroberos, a high-quality Belgian coticule sharpening stone for Syaoran's sword collection, and 50 grams of magic giant red oyster shell powder to the twins.

"It has some rather random properties: one day it might change people's skin color, next day it might make their hair turn into fool's gold. Magic giant oysters are very rare, so this is all I can get, maybe you can find a way of replicating it."

"Wicked!" They said, a glint in their eyes as they took the small sack. George took out a pinch of the fine red powder and before Fred could protest, dusted it over Fred's head. There was a poof of bright green smoke and when it had cleared Fred had disappeared. In his place however was a potted daisy, with the exception that it was an abnormally large daisy with two long, stringy leaves that acted as arms and had face distantly resembling Fred's.

"Oy!" Fred the Potted Daisy said in a rather high and naisly voice, raising a curled leaf up at George in protest, than turning to Sakura asked her, "How long will this bloody thing last?"

Sakura was laughing so hard she almost didn't hear what he had said. She calmed herself and said, "The powder takes about an hour to wear off, but you'll change into something new every 20 minutes or so," She turned to leave, but stopped herself and added, "Never add it to stinksap, unless you like your eyes being relocated to bottom for six to eight days," than left as Geroge asked his twin if he'd like to have a pruning. The answer, which largely consisted of swear words either made up on the spot, or that Sakura had never heard before, was drowned out behind the door to their room.

After the morning, Sakura was able to settle down and get to opening her own presents. Harry had given her a deck of Exploding Snap cards, Ron a large chunk of her favorite Honeyduke's fudge, her father had given her a new pair of ice skates (this winter was getting to record low tempertatures, and the lake might freeze over). She got an emerald Weasley jumper with a stylized cursive and golden "S" on the front.

Syaoran knocked on her door and poked a head inside, "Can I come in?"

"Yes, of course!" She said with a beckoning hand gesture, and he came in and shut the door.

"Uh… here," Syaoran said, stiffly holding out a small square box covered in red and gold wrapping paper and tied off with a green bow. She took it, noticing the pink twinge that covered the area around his nose. She smiled fondly. Syaoran had come a long way, he wasn't nearly as reserved or critical as when she had first met him, but sometimes, especially when he was nervous or with matters of the heart, he would turn into his old self: blushing like a fool and stiffening like a statue.

Sakura turned and looked down at box and unwrapped it carefully like Hermione had with her present, nothing like the exploded pieces of torn confetti that lay on a pile somewhere nearby. She had a reverence for things Syaoran got her. What was inside was a plain white paper box, except for the logo of two golden bells on the front. She recognized it immediately as being a box from the Twin Bells Gift Shop in Tomoedo. She opened the box and promptly squealed with glee as she reached in a pulled out a handmade plush teddy bear like the one that Syaoran had given her all those years ago. She held it up in the air to get a better look at it and discovered something was hanging around its neck. It was a charm of some kind: a gold oak tree with single emerald on the trunk, suspended by a silver chain. It was beautiful.

"Oh, Syaoran-!" She said slightly breathlessly.

"I'm sorry, I had a really hard time finding you a gift this year, you can be so hard to gift for. I hope you like it…" He said nervously, his right foot fidgeting slightly.

Sakura promptly dropped the bear into the box and hugged Syaoran tightly, "Oh, Syaoran! How could I not like it!" She kissed him gently on the cheek, and he was flaming red again, "Thank you."

"I, uh, enchanted the necklace with some protection spells. I hope you don't mind," he said quietly, and then with a slight smile he added, "You know me: almost as overprotective as your brother."

She chuckled in his ear and she felt him shiver. She smiled, a slightly mischievous glint in her eye, "Cold Syaoran?"

"Ahh- no! No, just that laugh of yours… it does crazy things to my mind," He chuckled nervously again, and Sakura smiled wider, kissing him again on the cheek before breaking their embrace and picking up her new bear again. She took off the necklace and put it around her neck.

"Can you do the fastener for me?"

"Sure," He had just finished fastening the necklace when there was another nock on the door.

"Come in!" Sakura said.

Harry opened the door, Ron and Hermione were with him, "Hey, Sakura, we're going to St. Mungo's to visit Mr. Weasley in a minute here. Are you still coming?"

"Yes, of course."

"Syaoran, I don't think Mrs. Weasley would mind, would you like to come as well?"

"Sure," He nodded with a slight smile, that nervous stiffness finally wearing off.

Sakura and Syaoran followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione out of the room and down the stairs. After lunch, pudding, and trifle, they all left in a somewhat orderly fashion, being flanked by Mr. Kingsley and Mr. Moody and being led by Mundungus Fletcher. He had "barrowed", which here is a word that loosely translates to: "Completely ripped off some poor muggle" or possibly "Stole without regards of the consequences", both definitions having similar connotations. She was deciding she didn't like Mr. Fletcher very much, and was a little apprehensive to get into the car herself, not blame Mrs. Weasley for her hesitation.

The car itself had been apparently magicked with some kind of timespace spell that made a small car that appeared on the outside able to easily seat the whole dozen of them easily with room to spare. She was thinking of who might have pulled off the magic when the car began to move.

The journey was rather quick, and slightly subdued due to the nature of the visit. There was almost no traffic on the streets, and even less people. The whole of London seemed eerily deserted, which in no way helped the grim feel of the people inside. As they exited the car. Sakura noticed that several other witches and wizards were making their way discreetly to the hidden St. Mungo's entrance.

The reception area looked pleasantly festive: The crystal orbs that illuminated St. Mungo's had been turned to red and gold so that they became gigantic, glowing Christmas baubles; holly hung around every

doorway, and shining white Christmas trees covered in magical snow and icicles glittered in every corner, each topped with a gleaming gold star. The atmosphere was much better for her mood, but then St. Mungo's mysteriously reminded her of the Death Eater she had killed, and thoughts she had managed to banish until now. She took a moment to breath and clear her head before stepping up at the reception counter with the Weasley's, Harry and Hermione, Syaoran had given her a slightly concerned look, but didn't mention it.

They found Mr. Weasley propped up in bed with the remains of his turkey dinner on a tray in his lap and a rather sheepish expression on his face. Sakura furrowed her brow. Why would Mr. Weasley look sheepish?

"Everything all right, Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley, after they had all greeted Mr. Weasley and handed over their presents.

"Fine, fine," said Mr. Weasley, a little too heartily. "You - er - haven't seen Healer Smethwyck, have you?"

"No," said Mrs. Weasley suspiciously, "why?"

"Nothing, nothing," said Mr. Weasley airily, starting to unwrap his pile of gifts. "Well, everyone had a good day? What did you all get for Christmas? Oh, Harry — this is absolutely wonderful —"

He had just opened Harry's gift of fuse-wire and screwdrivers. Mrs. Weasley did not seem entirely satisfied with Mr. Weasley's answer. As her husband leaned over to shake Harry's hand, she peered at

the bandaging under his nightshirt.

"Arthur," she said, with a snap in her voice that made Sakura jump, "you've had your bandages changed. Why have you had your bandages changed a day early, Arthur? They told me they wouldn't need

doing until tomorrow."

"What?" said Mr. Weasley, looking rather frightened and pulling the bed covers higher up his chest. "No, no - it's nothing - it's - I -"

He seemed to deflate under Mrs. Weasley's piercing gaze.

"Well — now don't get upset, Molly, but Augustus Pye had an idea... He's the Trainee Healer, you know, lovely young chap and very interested in… um… complementary medicine. I mean, some of these old Muggle remedies- well, they're called stitches, Molly, and they work very well on… on Muggle wounds…"

Mrs. Weasley let out an ominous noise somewhere between a shriek and a snarl. Sakura could feel a spike in Mrs. Weasley's magical signature that under normal circumstances generally indicated something nearby was about to die a rather painful death, but no that couldn't be right, she smirked to herself. Lupin, taking this as a cue, strolled away from the bed and over to a werewolf, who had no visitors and was looking rather wistfully at the crowd around Mr. Weasley; Bill muttered something about getting himself a cup of tea and Fred and George leapt up to accompany him, grinning humorously.

"Do you mean to tell me," said Mrs. Weasley, her voice growing louder with every word and apparently unaware that her fellow visitors were scurrying for cover, "that you have been messing about with Muggle remedies?"

"Not messing about, Molly, dear," said Mr. Weasley imploringly, "It was just- just something Pye and I thought we'd try- only, most unfortunately- well, with these particular kinds of wounds- it doesn't seem to work as well as we'd hoped-"

"Meaning?" She breathed out, never before more resembling a mad bull.

"Well… well, I don't know whether you know what- what stitches are?"

"It sounds as though you've been trying to sew your skin back together," said Mrs. Weasley with a snort of mirthless laughter, "but even you, Arthur, wouldn't be that stupid-"

"I fancy a cup of tea too," said Harry, jumping to his feet.

"Right!" Sakura declared, with a nervous smile and hardly able to contain her laughter.

"A cup of tea sounds nice-! Yeah, Tea!" Syaoran said, looking at the woman in front of her with an awed sort of fear. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny almost sprinted to the door with them.

The door swung closed behind them, and Sakura could feel the 'I'm going to kill someone' spike in Mrs. Weasley's magical signature growing in strength.

She chuckled as she ran and said, "Three… two… one…"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA'?" The heard Mrs. Weasley screech at the top of her lungs.

"Typical Dad," said Ginny, shaking her head with a sad smile as they set off up the corridor. "Stitches, I ask you?!"

"Well, you know, they do work well on non-magical wounds," said Hermione fairly. "I suppose something in that snake's venom dissolves them or something. . . . I wonder where the tearoom is?"

Just then a head poked out of a door at the far end of the corridor and a voice said, "Gilderoy, you naughty boy, where have you wandered off to?"

Gilderoy? Sakura thought to herself, recalling the story Ron and Harry had told her about the dashing Gilderoy Lockheart.

A motherly looking Healer wearing a tinsel wreath in her hair came bustling up the corridor, smiling warmly at Harry and the others. "Oh Gilderoy, you've got visitors! How lovely, and on Christmas

Day too! Do you know, he never gets visitors, poor lamb, and I can't think why, he's such a sweetie, aren't you?"

"We're doing autographs!" Gilderoy told the Healer with another glittering smile. "They want loads of them, won't take no for an answer! I just hope we've got enough photographs!"

Sakura leaned imperceptibly towards Harry and whispered tensely, "This is Gilderoy Lockheart… thee Gilderoy Lockheart?"

"Yes!" Harry whispered back.

"Listen to him," said the Healer, taking Lockhart's arm and beaming fondly at him as though he were a precocious two-year-old. "He was rather well known a few years ago; we very much hope that this

liking for giving autographs is a sign that his memory might be coming back a little bit. Will you step this way? He's in a closed ward, you know, he must have slipped out while I was bringing in the Christmas

presents, the door's usually kept locked . . . not that he's dangerous! But," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "bit of a danger to himself,bless him. . . . Doesn't know who he is, you see, wanders off and can't

remember how to get back… It is nice of you to have come to see him-"

"Er," said Ron, gesturing uselessly at the floor above, "actually, we were just- er-" but the Healer was smiling expectantly at them, and Ron's feeble mutter of "going to have a cup of tea" trailed away into nothingness. They looked at one another rather hopelessly and then followed Lockhart and his Healer along the corridor.

"Let's not stay long," Ron sighed and said quietly.

Syaoran turned to Ron and, sighing as well, replied, "I really wanted a cup of tea, too!"

The Healer pointed her wand at the door of the Janus Thickey ward and muttered "Alohomora." The door swung open and she led the way inside, keeping a firm grasp on Gilderoy's arm until she had settled him into an armchair beside his bed.

"This is our long-term resident ward," she informed Harry, Ron, Sakura, Hermione, Syaoran and Ginny in a low voice. "For permanent spell damage, you know. Of course, with intensive remedial potions and charms and a bit of luck, we can produce some improvement. . . . Gilderoy does seem to be getting back some sense of himself, and we've seen a real improvement in Mr. Bode, he seems to be regaining the power of speech very well, though he isn't speaking any language we recognize yet. . . . Well, I must finish giving out the Christmas presents, I'll leave you all to chat. . . ."

This ward bore unmistakable signs of being a permanent home to its residents. They had far more personal effects around their beds than in Mr. Weasley's ward; the wall around Gilderoy's headboard, for instance, was covered in odd pictures of himself all beaming toothily and waving at the new arrivals. He had autographed many of them to himself, but in disjointed, childish moment he had been deposited in his chair by the Healer, Gilderoy pulled a fresh stack of photographs toward him, seized a

quill, and started signing them all feverishly. There was no doubt about it anymore to Sakura: Gilderoy Lockheart was an about eleven eggs short of a full dozen.

"You can put them in envelopes," he said to Ginny, throwing the signed pictures into her lap one by one as he finished them. "I am not forgotten, you know! No, I still receive a very great deal of fan mail. Gladys Gudgeon writes weekly… I just wish I knew why…"

He paused, looking faintly puzzled, then beamed and pointed at Harry and Ron, "Say! You two sure look familiar! Have we met before?"

"Uh, no!" Ron said panicked, as Harry's eyes got rounder.

"Well," Gilderoy shrugged it off, just as a sallow-skinned, mournful-looking wizard lay in the bed opposite started mumbling to himself. He seemed quite unaware of anything around him. Two beds along was a woman whose entire head was covered in fur. At the far end of the ward flowery curtains had been drawn around two beds to give the occupants and their visitors some privacy.

"Here you are, Agnes," said the Healer brightly to the furry-faced woman, handing her a small pile of Christmas presents. "See, not forgotten, are you? And your son's sent an owl to say he's visiting tonight,

so that's nice, isn't it?"

Agnes gave several loud barks, and Sakura couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"And look, Broderick, you've been sent a potted plant and a lovely calendar with a different fancy hippogriff for each month, they'll brighten things up, won't they?" said the Healer, bustling along to the

mumbling man, setting a rather ugly plant with long, swaying tentacles on the bedside cabinet and fixing the calendar to the wall with her wand. "And — oh, Mrs. Longbottom, are you leaving already?"

Everyone looked startled to where the nurses voice had indicated. The curtains had been drawn back from the two beds at the end of the ward and two visitors were walking back down the aisle between the beds: a formidable-looking old witch wearing a long green dress, a moth-eaten fox fur, and a pointed hat

decorated with what was unmistakably a stuffed vulture and, trailing behind her looking thoroughly depressed- it was Neville.

Why was Neville here? Sakura thought, her brow furrowed.

Harry was looking around uncomfortably, just opening his mouth to say something when Ron said "Hey! Neville!"

Neville jumped and cowered as though a stray bullet had narrowly missed him.

"It's us, Neville!" said Ron brightly, getting to his feet. "Have you seen? Lockhart's here! Who've you been visiting?"

"Friends of yours, Neville, dear?" said Neville's grandmother graciously, bearing down upon them all. Neville looked as though he would rather be anywhere in the world but here at this moment. A dull purple flush was creeping up his plump face and he was not making eye contact with any of them.

"Ah, yes," said his grandmother, looking closely at Harry and sticking out a shriveled, clawlike hand for him to shake. "Yes, yes, I know who you are, of course. Neville speaks most highly of you."

"Er — thanks," said Harry, shaking her hand. Neville did not look at him, but stared at his own feet, the color deepening in his face all the while.

"And you two are clearly Weasleys," Mrs. Longbottom continued, proffering her hand regally to Ron and Ginny in turn. "Yes, I know your parents… not well, of course… but fine people, fine people… I'm afraid I don't know you two, but good to meet you all the same."

"Sakura Kinomoto," She shook her hand firmly, "and this is Syaoran Li. We're… more recent friends of Neville's. She nodded understandingly at them. Before turning to Hermione.

"You must be Hermione Granger?"

Hermione looked rather startled that Mrs. Longbottom knew her name, but shook hands all the same.

"Yes, Neville's told me all about you. Helped him out of a few sticky spots, haven't you? He's a good boy," she said, casting a sternly appraising look down her rather bony nose at Neville, "but he hasn't got his father's talent, I'm afraid to say. . . ." And she jerked her head in the direction of the two beds at the end of the ward, so that the stuffed vulture on her hat trembled alarmingly.

His father? Sakura thought, Oh, God! Poor Neville.

"What?" said Ron, looking amazed (Harry wanted to stamp on Ron's foot, but that sort of thing was much harder to bring off unnoticed when you were wearing jeans rather than robes). "Is that your

dad down the end, Neville?"

Hermione shot Ron a disparaging look, and Sakura realized she had finally found someone with less tact than Yue.

"What's this?" said Mrs. Longbottom sharply. "Haven't you told your friends about your parents, Neville?"

Neville took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling, and shook his head.

"Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of!" said Mrs. Longbottom angrily, "You should be proud, Neville, proud ! They didn't give their health and their sanity so their only son would be ashamed of them, you know!"

"I'm not ashamed," said Neville firmly, but very faintly, still looking anywhere but at Harry and the others. Ron was now standing on tiptoe to look over at the inhabitants of the two beds, and Hermione was glaring at him.

"Well, you've got a funny way of showing it!" said Mrs. Longbottom, "My son and his wife," she said, turning haughtily to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Sakura, and Syaoran, "were tortured into insanity by You-Know-Who's followers."

Hermione, Sakura and Ginny both clapped their hands over their mouths. Ron stopped craning his neck to catch a glimpse of Neville's parents and looked mortified, realizing how much of bludger her was being.

"They were Aurors, you know, and very well respected within the Wizarding community," Mrs. Longbottom went on. "Highly gifted, the pair of them. I — yes, Alice dear, what is it?"

Neville's mother had come edging down the ward in her nightdress. Her face was thin and worn now, her eyes seemed overlarge, and her hair, which had turned white, was wispy and dead-looking. She did not

seem to want to speak, or perhaps she was not able to, but she made timid motions toward Neville, holding something in her outstretched hand. Sakura could feel her frazzled energy signature. It was like old films she had seen where the tape suddenly just melted away. Sakura wasn't sure whether she wanted to cry or throw up more, but she needed to leave soon or she was going to do both.

"Again?" said Mrs. Longbottom, sounding slightly weary. "Very well, Alice dear, very well- Neville, take it, whatever it is…" but Neville had already stretched out his hand, into which his mother dropped an empty but neatly folded wrapper. Sakura chocked some tears back. Voldemort, she thought, as icy fury steeled through her veins.

"Very nice, dear," said Neville's grandmother in a falsely cheery voice, patting her daughter-in-law on the shoulder.

Neville said quietly, holding her arm, "Thanks Mum." He said gently, a great sadness in his voice, and for that moment, it was just them: mother and son.

His mother tottered away, back up the ward, humming to herself. Neville looked around at the others, his expression defiant, as though daring them to laugh, but Sakura knew that she'd probably throw up long before she could ever laugh again.

"Well, we'd better get back," sighed Mrs. Longbottom, drawing on long green gloves. "Very nice to have met you all. Neville, put that wrapper in the bin, she must have given you enough of them to paper your bedroom by now. . . ."

As they left, Sakura sad eyes met Neville's as he slipped the wrapper into

his pocket.

The door closed behind them.

"I never knew," said Hermione, who looked tearful.

"Nor did I," said Ron rather hoarsely.

"Nor me," whispered Ginny.

Sakura shook her head violently as she tried to get her composure back, Syaoran holding her tightly. They all looked at Harry.

"I did," he said glumly. "Dumbledore told me but I promised I wouldn't mention it… that's what Bellatrix Lestrange got sent to Azkaban for, using the Cruciatus Curse on Neville's parents until they lost their minds."

"Bellatrix Lestrange did that?" whispered Hermione, horrified.

"That woman Kreacher's got a photo of in his den?"

A just sort of anger began to course through Sakura's veins. Justice was far too good for Bellatrix Lestrange. For doing this… she deserved vengeance. She hoped that Neville would someday get that vengeance, and if she could, Sakura swore that she'd help Neville get it.

There was a long silence, broken by Lockhart's angry voice. "Look,

I didn't learn joined-up writing for nothing, you know!"

A/N: Longest chapter… EVER! I truly apologize. I feel like my chapters have steadily been losing quality for several chapters now, but I'm trying to fix it! Soon we'll be back at Hogwarts. I think that will help. What of Miame and Zachary? Find out next chapter!


	13. How Very Slytherin of You

A/N: It has come to my attention that I need a beta editor! I'm now looking for one, and if you feel you would be up to the job, please PM me. This will be the last chapter I post until I get one. Iownnothing.

Chapter 13: How very _Slytherin _of you

"You _blasted_ wizards _really_ need to get better ways of traveling!" Sakura said savagely, stumbling off the Knight Bus and looking half drunk as she stumbled around in an attempt to get the world to stop spinning five times too fast. Her comment went widely ignored by anyone nearby, who were either helping the others haul off their trunks in the case of Lupin and Tonks, or were too busy trying to keep the sky and ground firmly in their respective positions. Sakura had just spent the last ten minutes the triple decker washing machine, another _fine engineered _transportation system that wizards had developed, and was beginning to wonder if some wizard had sat down one day and tried to think of the _worse, _most _uncomfortable,_ most _wretched _ways to travel and shipped them all off as "winning idea's" to the Magical Department of Transportation.

"You'll be safe once you're in the grounds," said Tonks, casting a careful eye around at the deserted road. "Have a good term, okay?"

"Look after yourselves," said Lupin, shaking hands all round an reaching Harry last. "And listen . . ." He lowered his voice while the rest of them exchanged last-minute good-byes with Tonks, "Harry, I know you don't like Snape, but he is a superb Occlumens and we all- Sirius included- want you to learn to protect yourself, so

work hard, all right?"

_Occlumens? _Sakura overheard and wondered, _Whats that?_

"Yeah, all right," said Harry heavily, looking up into Lupin's prematurely lined face. "See you, then . . ."

The seven of them struggled up the miserably slippery drive toward the castle dragging or levitating their trunks. Hermione was already talking about knitting a few elf hats before bedtime, and Sakura, fully swept into what house elf rights, was considering joining her. After all, knitting was something she had only done for a couple days as a school assignment, and it would be nice to get better at it. Harry glanced back when they reached

the oak front doors, looking slightly forlorn, probably not wanting to go back to Umbrige's regime.

She had taken Tomoyo back to Tomoeda yesterday, apologizing a ludicrous amount of times to Ms. Daidouji. Sonomi Daidouji was indeed flustered, and seemed to be struggling between her over protective nature of Tomoyo and her soft spot for Sakura. Sakura, after begging for forgiveness, and seeing that Tomoyo was perfectly fine, won out in the end. After Sonomi had given it a bit more thought she realized that there was no way Sakura could have possibly known what might have happened to Tomoyo, and would never willingly put her in that kind of danger. So, in the end, what started as Sakura almost begging for forgiveness ended up being the three of them sitting at the Daidouji Mansion's kitchen table having generous slices of New York Style cheesecake between them and talking about Sakura's new life as a student in a school of magic.

After Christmas, it was easily seen that Sirius' mood that had been so uplifting and contagious over the holiday was deflating rapidly. That is until Syaoran had asked if he could stay for an extended period to help stay near me, and to help in any way he could with the war effort. This was an immediate success, and Sirius and Syaoran seemed to get along famously. There was just something about Sirius that made him altogether likable, if a little crude at times, but fourteen years in a place like Azkaban it's a miracle that he hadn't lost his mind. He told Sakura that while he was staying in Grimmauld Place that Sirius had shown him a small library with some of the most ancient books still in existence. He was find something from the time period in which Clow Reed was a student at Hogwarts and that it might give her a lead.

The only problem he faced was the Li Clan elders, who had an odd fascination with keeping Li within walking distance any time they could. He used the "I have to be near Sakura to ensure she remains protected" card and in the end, the Clan Members grudgingly agreed. He also, by some miracle, also managed to get them to agree to send Meilin to Grimmauld Place to aid him in Sakura's quest as well. It was well known that Meilin was an incredible researcher and that if anyone could find what they were looking for it would be her. Sakura deeply suspected that a certain egotistical indirect ancestor had at least a hand in this.

As they were trudging through the hall Sakura announced in a bored, almost sarcastic voice, "I wonder what Professor Snape wants to torture us with today, hm?" It wasn't a second later when, sure enough, Professor Snape turned from around the corner at the end of the hall and started to approach them.

Ron shook his head, "_I_ didn't do it, if thats what he wants to know."

Snape stopped in front of them, "Potter," He drawled with a sneer, and then turned this sneer directly to Sakura, "Your presence is required at the Headmaster's office," he said with monotone that was even impressive for Professor Snape, "Please come with me."

Sakura nodded tersely at him and followed behind him after smiling at the four he was leaving behind and telling them he'd join them in the common room later. She was quiet for some time, feeling the presences around her. She was slowly learning to recognize the people simply by their signatures, and so she had an entertaining game she'd play by herself by guessing who was coming and then seeing if she was right. She was getting fairly good at it. After about five minutes she decided she had enough of the silence.

"So, are you going to tell me what this about?" Sakura said conversationally.

"It's for Headmaster Dumbledore to tell you." He said in his familiar drawl.

"Only a fool goes into a situation without knowing anything about it unless he or she absolutely has to." She continued with the same conversationalist tone.

"How very _Slytherin _of you," He turned just so Sakura could see his sneer.

"Not Slytherin, just sensible. I have a head on my shoulder. Gryffindors aren't idiots anymore than Slytherin's are arrogant wretches." Snape made a scoffing sound.

"You lived this life for a few months and you think you know everything about it? You really are a Gryffindor."

"Yeah," Sakura said, bored at his insults, "That's what the hat said. I don't claim to know everything, but I know enough."

"You are a stranger to our world, and you are not welcome," Snape gestured stiffly up the stairs, letting her take the lead up to the Headmaster's office.

"That's never stopped me before," She said passively as the stairs rose, "and that sort of attitude is what got you wizards in this mess in the first place. This whole thing about blood status," Sakura said shrugging, "I mean, I'm about as pure blooded as Hermione," she turned to Professor Snape, holding the doorknob to enter the Headmasters office, and gave him a slight smile before she finished, "and I'm more powerful than Mr. Malfoy while _I'm asleep_."

Snape was only able to sneer and unable to retort as that Sakura had opened the door and walked in. What she saw made her fell like her stomach had fallen out of her torso and into a conveniently placed bucked of liquid nitrogen. Sitting there, just turning from Dumbledore, were two people Sakura never expected to ever see in this office: Miame and Zachary.

There were two clearly logical explanations: Dumbledore had betrayed her, which although she hadn't known Dumbledore for very long knew that he had never once lied to her and the idea of Dumbledore stabbing her in the back _now _seemed almost laughably ridiculous, except Sakura wasn't laughing. In fact, her wand hand was twitching and her other hand was equally ready to jump to her sealed staff to _un_seal it.

The other more likely explanation was that Miame and/or Zachary had dominated at least Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore's minds, forcing them to betray her whether they knew or liked it. If she spun just so slightly to the left, it might make them miss their first spells, giving Sakura a chance to summon a powerful shield charm and her staff. Then, when she was done with these two, they might resemble something of a very large amoeba.

There was third explanation, and it's what made Sakura hesitate from filling the room with magical plasma. They were here to negotiate. They didn't want to fight. It was keen to Sakura that she was the only one who seemed to be tensely awaiting attack.

Then Dumbledore spoke, "Good afternoon, Miss Kinomoto. I see by your expression and by the fact that you are about to attack _at least _half the people in the room, that Professor Snape opted _not_ to fill you in on our guests, today?" He smiled humorously. One look at Sakura, and Miame seemed to wince.

Sakura turned a beady glare to Professor Snape replying, "No. Professor Snape chose it best _not _to mention such vastly important information to me."

"Well, no matter. These two arrived in my office declaring that they had a message of great importance to give to you."

Sakura visibly relaxed. Something new had come up, and something in the back of mind told her that her curiosity was warranted and that whatever these two had to say would be worth hearing. She stood up strait and nodded slowly to the two sitting in front of Dumbledore, staring intensely at her. They got up from their chairs and began walking slowly over to her. Their intentions were clear, one look at their expressions said everything in the world, but their magical signatures were talking just as loudly. The sorcerer called Zachary refused to meet her eyes, instead he had a harsh frown over his face as he thought the window to his left seemed that much more interesting. Miame's stared resolutely at her face her lower lip was trembling and her emerald eyes were half full of tears. Sakura's breath hitched. _What the hell was going on?_

Finally, Zachary's crystal blue gaze met Sakura's, and without any real surprise Sakura realized her jaw had gone slightly slack. He began speaking, slowly and regretfully, "About two months ago, we were approached by a black cloaked man wearing a mask. He told us of an elite an noble group who had united in a single cause to rid the world of evil. He had heard that we were mercenary sorcerers who were sworn and bound to fight off evil, and that he would like to hire us to fight off an insignificant who had encroached on his noble plans. We are sorcerers who bear as our medium the Sentinel Talismans-" Sakura sucked in a breath. She knew _exactly _what the Sentinel Talismans were, "-and have sworn an oath to help destroy evil until this generations requirements have been fulfilled."

"We had extreme suspicions as to what we were involved in the first time we fought you, and realized your age-" Miame said, a slight desperation in her voice.

"-as well as several _ridiculously _good points you made while we were fighting." Zachary interrupted.

Miame nodded vigorously, "Yes. The location and the age of our target should have made it obvious , but we were getting rather desperate, and so we continued with decided to ignore our instincts. We continued to track you and eventually caught up with you at the St. Mungo's hospital."

"After we fought with you there I refused to be deceived by this 'noble' Lord Voldemort one moment longer and I paid a visit to the Oracle at Siberia-"

"Oracle at Siberia? _Sentinel Talismans?_" Snape interrupted.

Sakura took a deep breath and placed a single comforting hand on Miame's shoulder, and Miame shook at the shame of it, being comforted by someone she had once tried to hunt. Sakura was standing just two feet away from people she had once fought for her life against, and she felt overwhelmingly grateful that she had been right about them. That they were here and weren't trying to kill her. Dumbledore looked on curiously, with his fingers tepee-d in front of his face, while Snape was a mix of sneer and curiosity.

"The Sentinel Talismans," Sakura explained, "Are terribly powerful objects with a direct link to the Celestial Magics. A six year old muggle could use them. It is unknown who or what created them, but they are terribly oxymoronic. The talismans are cursed. Whoever touches them becomes a slave to the light. They _must _and are _compelled _to fight off the forces of evil until the talisman 'has had its fill', so to say. They are passed down from generation to generation, forced onto someone new by their unwilling previous masters. It is believed that they were once beautiful and wonderful, given willingly as a noble gift, and that a sorcerer of great evil put a curse on them. They are considered Grey Magic. Feared by Dark Magicians, for there terrible power that is fueled by the destruction of evil, and hated by the light, for turning innocent or innocuous people into slaves against evil: a fight that _should be _a choice."

Miame nodded silently, "At the Oracle, she told my brother that we were definitely being deceived and that it was in fact _you _who we should be helping. That helping you would start an amazing destiny. That is why we are here. We, as the Sentinels, give our oath to help you in any way we possibly can."

"I am truly grateful for your help, but I will not ask you to help me as a Sentinel, but you may only join our struggle if it is truly what _you _wish to do."

Zachary stood up straiter, "That man wanted us to murder a fifteen year old girl so he could slowly take over the world! Yes! I will help you, of my own accord!"

"Yes," Miame nodded, "We truly wish to help you. A man of that nature... he cannot be allowed to live."

"Excellent!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together, "There is just one nagging concern in the back of my mind. How can we be certain about what you are telling us now?"

"They speak the truth," Snape said, almost seeming annoyed at himself for having to say it, "Just a little over two days ago, Voldemort mentioned that the two sorcerers he had mistakenly hired were responsible for all recent infestation of what Voldemort called 'flesh golems'. Ten have been appearing everyday."

"Flesh golems?" Sakura said, "_Ten _of them! _Everyday_!"

Miame nodded with a smile, "We used the Ritual of Arcane Flesh in conjunction with the Deceptive Debtor's Ritual."

Sakura's eyes were wide, and Snape seemed to be absolutely annoyed that he was having to listen to this nonsense, "He must have owed you _a lot _of money!"

"About 750,000 British pounds," Miame smirked

"Oh," Was all Sakura managed to say, "Thats _a lot _of flesh golems."

"_What are you three talking about?!_" Snape said with clear annoyance.

Miame turned to Headmaster Dumbledore and said, "Your struggle is truly noble, and as our first effort in you favor we have cursed the property that Voldemort uses as his base of operations. Everyday, ten flesh golems appear, and will continue to appear on his property for about the next... _210 years_... or until Voldemort has been defeated. They aren't too strong, and they are _really _stupid, but they make quite a mess when they are destroyed and will annoy the heck out of his Death Eaters. He might be forced to leave entirely."

Severus' eyebrows rose just slightly in a show of how impressed he was.

"If it's true that you are being forced by these Sentinel Talismans, how much free will do you have, why can't you just remove them altogether?"

"We have free will, but only so long as we are doing our job, or at least _think _were doing out job. If we try to resist, than the talisman takes over completely until the job gets done and than releases you back unto your own freewill. The man who gave these to us, he tried to resist the hold it had on him for as long as he could by teaching us everything he knew about sorcery before finally the Talismans forced him to give them to us."

"Why can't you just break the spell thats forcing its users into slavery?" Sakura asked.

"The same reason that you cannot resist its power, the second it realizes what you are doing, it takes over long enough to stop you. Anyone else who tries to break the spell, it sees as a threat and if you don't do something to stop the curse from being broken, it takes over and makes _sure _you do."

Sakura nodded, "I, too, am a sorcerer, and have sworn to help defeat evil where I find it. I will help you break the spell in anyway I can, but honestly, I have no Idea how we can do that right now."

"One thing bothers us, and that is how very strange and powerful some of your abilities. The old man who taught us sorcery said it was near impossible to control more than one element at a time, yet we have seen you controlling five or six, while doing odd spells and rituals at the same time! What magic is this? We have never seen anything like it!"

Sakura hesitated, glancing from one eye to another. She had just truly met these two, and more and more people were beginning to know her secrets everyday. She wasn't an especially secretive person, but Syaoran had taught her some things about war while she was in training. Sun Tzu had once said that it was a huge and winning strategy to keep some of your advantages to yourself,and that the best advantage was clearly an advantage that no one could possibly know about. There, however, was no escaping this. She was going to have to tell them.

"Have you heard of the artifacts known as the Clow Cards?"

"Of course, the Clow Cards were part of our training," Zachary said, with an expression that said that he didn't know were this was leading, "They are a deck of cards that are said to be able to summon celestial spirits themselves. I'm sure at least a hundred sorcerers have been searching for them since the now Li clan lost them almost five hundred years ago."

"Yes, that sounds about right," She said casually, waiting for them to open the door she had led them to.

Miame realized first, he jaw opening slightly at first, than slowly a little bit more and more , until just about when Sakura thought it couldn't possibly open any further, Zachary realized and his reaction was a bit more violent, he seemed to jump back of his volition and head cocked severely to the right as he stared down at her.

"Your not _actually_-" He said.

"Yes, I am" She answered.

"A fifteen year old girl-"

"-Is the mistress of the now Sakura Cards?" Sakura said, almost sounding embarrassed, "No, actually, an _eleven _year old became the mistress of the now Sakura Cards."

"How- What-?" Zachary stammered.

"Sakura! If legend is true, that makes you the most _powerful sorcerer alive_ and for the last five hundred years!" Miame cried, "WE'VE BEEN ATTACKING THE CLOW CARD MISTRESS!" She said and yelled in an odd mix of terror and humiliation that Sakura found quite unsettling and completely unnecessary. She was Sakura Kinomoto, for crying out loud! She was your next door neighbor, the nice little girl you walked by on your way to work or school that smiled politely at you. She was the girl you went to tell funny jokes and giggle about them with. Certainly, nothing to be fussed with. That was _who_ she was, however, not _what _she was. She looked into Dumbledore's eyes, whose eyebrows were raised high with surprise, and then she shot her glance to Snape, who for once wasn't sneering at her, in fact he tried to look casual, but this revelation caught him off guard. He would never admit it, but in his head right now he was secretly replaying the moment that Sakura told him that she was more powerful that Malfoy in her sleep, and silently realizing that she wasn't boasting at all. She looked away and back to Dumbledore.

"The myths are true. I am the most powerful sorcerer alive."

Zachary was shaking his head in disbelief, still unable to come to grips with the fact that the fifteen year old girl who was almost a head shorter than his sister was probably twice as powerful as he was, "Why have we not heard about this? I mean, the Clow Cards are legendary! If they had found a new master, wouldn't the whole magical world know about it? And what about the Li Clan, aren't they the rightful owners?"

"Well, for the most part, I don't know why you wouldn't know, except maybe word of me getting the cards hasn't crossed the Atlantic/Pacific. Maybe you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and just never found out. As far as I know, everyone in the world _does _seem to know about it," she looked more than a little annoyed about this last fact. When she met with other sorcerers who knew who she was, they always seemed to treat her like a celebrity, which she could hardly stand, "And the part about the Li Clan, well, thats a _really _long story, but it has a happy ending in which the future heir of the Li Dynasty becomes my boyfriend and I discover that my father is half of Clow Reed's reincarnation, which gives me as much of a magical right to the cards as anyone from the Li Clan."

"This is... well," Zachary said with more emotion than Sakura had yet seen, "Incredible."

Miame nodded solemnly, "Were here to help, now more than ever! I have a feeling that our meeting you was as the oracle said: It will lead us all to an excellent destiny."

Zachary nodded in agreement, then turning to Dumbledore, "Only half of this is a curse, the rest is a huge blessing. As long as we are fighting evil, we are at liberty to use the Talismans immense power as your allies Will the government of the wizards accept our help?"

Snape chuckled shortly and Sakura caught him mumbling something about "the largest group of the most incompetent wizards ever assembled."

"I'm afraid that our government is currently under the impression that Lord Voldemort has never returned and is in fact, still dead."

Channeling Ron she added, muttering loudly, "They're hiding with their heads in the sand, like moronic ostriches."

"Still dead? Half the world sensed his newest rise to power!"

"Speaking of which," Sakura said curiously, "How did you _not _sense the evil Voldemort when you were with him?"

"He was masking his magical signature," Miame said, looking guilty, "Doing a fine job of it, too."

"I didn't think wizards could... do that." Sakura said, confusedly.

"Some very powerful wizards can, such as myself," Dumbledore said slowly, "The fact is that it can be taught, but only a handful of wizards are actually powerful enough to sense magically another persons essence, while it seems that sorcerers are naturals at it."

Sakura nodded, and continued, "The point is, however, that you have inadvertently stumbled upon the the head of the _only _resistance authority," she motioned to the headmaster.

"Well then," Miame said, "Would _you _accept us as allies? Could we aid your cause?"

"Of course! You should return and meet with the rest of the Order at our next meeting. How can we contact you?"

"We can return here tomorrow at 3PM?"

"Excellent. Well, I think that concludes our business. For today, now if I might speak with Sakura alone?"

"Very well," Zachary said, "We will return tomorrow," then turning to Sakura, "My deepest apologies, I am terribly sorry for whatever pain or trouble we might have caused you."

"I'm _so _sorry" Miame said, her eyes slightly teary again.

"It's okay," Sakura said, smiling brightly, "No harm done! Apology accepted!"

They nodded, and then with a flare of fire and burst of mist they left. Snape walked casually to the door, and upon entering it he said, "Oh, and Sakura," Turning back into the room, "Don't think I'll give you _any _kind of special treatment, even with your newest title as 'power princess'."

Sakura smiled sweetly, "Ah, Professor, but you already _do _treat me like I'm special. You treat me like you treat Gryffindor." With that, Snape sneered and left the room. Sakura turned back to Dumbledore, his eyes were sparkling and he was staring at her appraisingly, a humorous smile on his face.

"Most powerful sorcerer in the world? That information might have been a little appreciated if you had shared."

Sakura winced just slightly, "My apologies for any deception, but I _did _say I was keeping things a secret, and that fact was _definitely _one of them. Did you see how they reacted?"

"Yes," He chuckled, "Almost half as shocked as I was,"

"Yes, well," She sighed, "I get that a lot. I certainly don't enjoy it, and I didn't want that kind of attention. Plus, keeping your true strength a secret is a tactical advantage."

"Say no more," Dumbledore smiled, waving his hand dismissively, "I understand completely. Sun Tzu, _The Art of War, _I believe?"

"Why professor," Sakura said, with huge grin but absolutely serious sounding, "I thought the hat sorted you into _Gryffindor _like myself?"

"Actually, the hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw," He smiled, "But my family have been Gryffindors for the past thousand years or so, so I asked the hat to put me in Gryffindor. One of the worse mistakes I have ever made, now that I reflect upon it."

Sakura looked a little surprised, but continued, "So if you could please keep this information as close to you as humanly possible. I know Snape won't tell a soul, 'apocalypse now' should he ever say something that might make me look _good_. The last thing I want is everyone in the school to treat me like they treat Harry."

"I swear on my word and wand that so long as it does not jeopardize the health of you or any student, either mentally of physically, I shall tell no soul in the exception of your head of house, Professor McGonagall, or until I have express permission from yourself."

"I thank you greatly, professor." Sakura smiled, "Now, If I might be excused, I have at least two letters to write and three people in the common room waiting for me, and boy do I ever have a story to tell them."

"Of course," He smiled again, "Please, give my regards to Harry and his friends, and Mr. Hiiragizawa as well."

"Of course," Sakura nodded and went to leave, than turned, gave the Headmaster another smile and a curt nod in thanks, and left silently. The second she hot the floor of the second hallway, she burst into an excited run, eager to get back and tell the story of this most fortunate turn of events.

* * *

Occlumens was, Sakura early the next day found out, was a person who could shield their mind from external penetration. Harry was going to be 'taught' by Professor Snape how to use occlumency to shield his mind from Voldemort. Sakura wholeheartedly agreed that this was a wonderful idea, and that no one should ever have to expose themselves like that to an essence so... disgusting, but she and Harry both knew that Professor Snape's ideal methods of teaching were little more than torturing the student until they 'learned their lesson', and Sakura was already beginning to doubt this plan altogether.

At breakfast, Harry seemed to be completely apprehensive of the meeting later tonight, and the excuse of 'remedial potions' was just downright dumb. Members kept approaching Harry, asking when the next DA meeting would be, and Harry would continuously have to say things like:

"I'll let you know when the next one is, but I can't do it tonight, I've got to go to- er- Remedial Potions..."

"You take Remedial Potions?" asked Zacharias Smith superciliously, having cornered Harry in the entrance hall after lunch. "Good Lord, you must be terrible, Snape doesn't usually give extra lessons, does

he?"

As Smith strode away in an annoyingly buoyant fashion, Ron and Sakura glared after him. They walked a step or two, standing next to each other and pulled out their wands aiming carefully, than Sakura began to count, "Something discreet, something he wont notice until later, ready? One... two... _thr_-"

"Forget it," said Harry dismally. "It's what everyone's going to think, isn't it? That I'm really stup-"

"Hi, Harry," said a voice behind them. They turned around and found Cho standing there.

"Oh," said Harry, his voice at least an octave too high, "Hi."

_Interference time?_ Sakura thought to herself.

"We'll be in the library, Harry," said Hermione firmly, and she seized Ron above the elbow and dragged him off toward the marble staircase, and Sakura pointed her wand surreptitiously and said "_Strangertum_," as she turned so no one would notice. She smiled secretly to herself and walked down the staircase without a second glance, whistling a little tune that Syaoran had taught her. There was a tiny bit of guilt that had build up somewhere to the left of where kidney was located, but this slight was so crushed by a sheer sense of giddiness for having meddled a little bit in romantic affairs.

Messing with romantic affairs, Sakura had decided many times over, was definitely Tomoyo's territory. It wasn't that she was bad at it, just that Tomoyo was so much _better _at being a matchmaker and such. However, there was no doubt to Sakura as she walked happily up the stone stairs up to the seventh floor corridor that dabbling in the ways of love was definitely a good and exciting feeling, if a bit apprehensive and dangerous. It was a feeling she imagined some people got when they cut classes or were out past curfew. The reasoning was simple: Tomoyo wasn't here to work her legendary prowess with love and relationships, and Sakura had promised Ginny that she would do what she could to get that blasted boys eye's to see straight. After all, Ginny wasn't popular for the sole reason that she had a completely lovable personality: she was quite pretty as well.

After she had come to the common room, she sat with a silent and small smile as she finished up the last bit of her transfiguration homework, a refreshing feeling taking a hold of her as she dotted her last "i" and crossed the last "t". In the course of a day she had finished all the homework she had for at least the next two days, gained two powerful allies, lost two powerful foes, meddled with the relationship of Harry Potter, the sun was shinning, she was in love, and loved, and nothing could get her down. With this happy thought she pulled out her Sakura Cards and sat next to Ron and Hermione, who were in the middle of doing there homework.

She shuffled them skillfully and carefully, with the slight smile on her face, which caught Ron's eye.

"What're you so happy about?" He asked, his brow furrowed slightly.

Sakura's smile grew wider, "Isn't it a beautiful day outside?"

Ron's eyes grew and he shrugged unimpressed, "I guess, is that really why your so happy?"

"Well, I just got a good feeling, thats all."

"About what?" Hermione half muttered, deeply concentrating on an essay on the magical properties of sassafras and how useful it is in skin regenerating potions.

"I don't know," Sakura shrugged, the smile still not leaving her face.

Hermione's eyes were darting over her essay when they suddenly stopped. Her eyebrow furrowed as she was struck by woman's intuition like a small bolt of lightning. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked up slowly at Sakura, sitting across the table and eyed her face as she looked peaceably about the room, then began to set down her Sakura Cards in the shape of a diamond with one card in the corners of each quadrant. She was about to do a divination, "Sakura, what are you doing?"

Sakura looked surprised for second, "Me- I- What? I'm going to do a divination, why?"

"No, Sakura, you're doing something, or you've done something. I know that look!" Hermione said, pointing an accusing finger at Sakura, "Fred and George get that look whenever they're up to trouble?"

The hair on the back of Sakura's neck stood up a little, and Sakura cursed womans intuition, "I don't know what your talking about." The smile had faded only a little bit. Hermione narrowed her eyes and cocked her head slightly, a glare that made Sakura wince involuntarily, "What?" She said innocently enough, in a tone that, with some people, would let her get away with anything. She knew even before she said it that it would not work on Hermione.

"This has something to do with Harry and Cho, doesn't it?" Hermione said, her narrowed eye glare still fixed on her, and Sakura could feel the cold in her words. Sakura sucked in a sudden breath and her eyes widened in surprise, he smile falling as she now cursed perception, "It does!"

Sakura floundered, before saying, "Now, whatever gave you that idea?!" Looking next to her at Ron, who had leaned back and had sighed with a smile, clearly content with not being the one singled out by Hermione.

"Out with it Sakura Kinomoto, or so help me!" Hermione rose up to her full sitting hight and went for her wand, "What did you do?!"

"I- erm- eh," Sakura realized that the only thing that had scared her as much as Hermione Granger was right now had been ghosts, and that fear was almost completely conquered. That meant that Hermione Granger was officially Sakura's worse fear, "I- put a Tongue Tying Hex on him."

"You..." Hermione said relatively calm, "A tongue tying hex? Wait... YOU WHAT?!" She squealed. Ron snickered, and Sakura stopped breathing.

"WHY ON EARTH DID YOU DO THAT" Hermione shrieked.

"I-can't-tell-you-because-I-gave-my-word-as-a-sorcerer-that-I-wouldn't-please-don't-kill-me-Hermione,-I've-have-had-a-really-nice-day-and-that-would-totally-spoil-it!!!" Sakura said standing up and saying as fast as she possibly could and looking around quickly for something that she could summon with her wand to block a curse if necessary. Then Hermione stopped, she stopped abruptly as if her aggression had been ridiculously turned off.

"Wait!" Hermione said, "This has something to do with Ginny, doesn't it?"

"Ginny?" Ron said, "What would she have to do with this?"

"Ginny likes Harry," Hermione rolled her eyes, "You know that!"

"What? Not anymore," Ron said, confused.

"Oh, Ron," Hermione said sadly, "Ginny never actually _stopped _liking him, she only moved to other people because she wants him to notice her."

Sakura just kept quiet. Relationships were definitely for Tomoyo. Leave them alone Sakura. Bad,bad Sakura.

"So, is that what this is about?" Hermione turned back to Sakura's now scared eyes. Sakura took a deep breath and regained her composure, taking a stoic stance and hardening her gaze.

"On my word as a sorcerer, I swore to Ginny that I would do anything I possibly could to help her win Harry's heart. This is the truth, and, as my friends, I hope I have you confidentiality in this."

Hermione shrugged passively, "Of course. I'll see what I can't do to help as well. Cho's nice, and I'd hex you into next week if your were messing with their relationship without a good reason, but Ginny is so much better for Harry, that it's kinda ridiculous."

Ron just spluttered, and then finally said, "Women!" and climbed up the boy's staircase and up to his room, "I'll be back when I've figured out why you do the mental things you do! Which means you'll probably never see me again!"

A/N: Okay, I'm starting to get REALLY excited for some future plot elements, but I can't say when these plot elements will be revealed. This chapter is another filler chapter, I'm sorry if it was at all boring. As I said earlier, I will not post another chapter until I find a qualified beta to help me, thats not to say that I won't keep working on my story, and if it takes me three chapters worth of work to find one, than you can expect me to post three chapters when I finally find one. What about the talismans? Where is this going? Trust me when I say this: Miame and Zachary aren't gone nor is there part of the plot finished.


	14. A Message From The Author: I'm Back!

IT'S OFFICIAL

It's been a VERY long time since I've written anything Advent Magicka related, but I'm proud to announce that soon (hopefully by the end of this month) I will begin updating again!

I looked over the reviews that I got during my absence and found them invigorating, and I thank anyone who might still be watching this fan-fic.

I have found someone who is qualified and willing to beta for me, and together we will fix the multiple problems that have been noted by commenters.

Thank You All Again

MrMaster


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